
Glass __E_S.^oj2ll 

3 ai 



copmiGm DEPOSIT. 



THE GREEN GODDESS 



«5 ^ ^ '^ *' 



y^ 3 ^ ^ 



THE GREEN GODDESS 



A PLAY IN FOUR ACTS 



By WILLIAM ARCHER 




NEW YORK ALFRED -A- KNOPF MCMXXI 



COPYRIGHT, 1920, 1921 
By WILLIAM ARCHER 



^^A 



0^1 



All rights reserved under the International Gopyricjht 
Act. Performance forbidden and right of representation 
reserved. Application for the right of performing this 
play must he made to Winthrop Ames, 244 West Forty- 
fourth Street, New York. 



FEINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



APS -9 1921 
©aA6i4035 



/ dedicate this play to 
WINTHROP AMES 
To whom it owes so much 



THE GREEN GODDESS 

PERSONS OF THE PLAY 

The Raja of Rukh (40) 

Watkins, his valet (35) 

Major Antony Crespin, (40) 

LuciLLA, his wife (28) 

Doctor Basil Traherne (35) 

Lieutenant Denis Cardew (23) 

Priests, villagers, regular and irregular troops, servants 

and an unseen multitude. 
Scene: A remote region at the back of the Himalayas. 



"The Green Goddess" was first acted in Philadelphia, 
on the occasion of the opening of the reconstructed Walnut 
Street Theatre, 27 December, 1920. It was produced in 
New York, at the Booth Theatre, 18 January, 1921, with 
the following cast (practically the same as in Phila- 
delphia) : 

The Raja George Arliss 

Watkins I'^T^ P' Simpson 

Major Crespin Herbert Waring 

LuciLLA Olive Wyndham 

Dr. Traherne Cyril Keightley 

Lieut. Cardew Herbert Ranson 

The High Priest David A. Leonard 

The Temple Priest Ronald Colman 

An Ayah .^Jlehn NuW'SfH 



THE GREEN GODDESS 



yyS^ 



THE GREEN GODDESS 

ACT FIRST 

A region of gaunt and almost treeless mountains, uni- 
formly grey in tone, except in so far as the atmos- 
phere lends them colour. Clinging to the mountain 
wall in the background, at an apparent distance of 
about a mile, is a vast barbaric palace, with long 
stretches of unbroken masonry, crowned by arcades 
and turrets. 

The foreground consists of a small level space between 
two masses of rock. In the rock on the right * a 
cave-temple has been roughly hewn. Two thick 
and rudely-carved pillars divide it into three sec- 
tions. Between the pillars, in the middle section, 
can be seen the seated figure of a six-armed God- 
dess, of forbidding aspect, coloured dark green. In 
front of the figure is a low altar with five or six 
newly-severed heads of goats lying at its base. The 
temple is decorated with untidy and mouldering 
wreaths and other floral offerings. 

The open space between the two rock masses forms a 
rudely-paved forecourt to the temple. It is bor- 
dered by smaller idols and three or four round- 
headed stone posts, painted green. 

Mountain paths wind off behind the rocks, and through 
the low shrubs, both to right and left. 

Projecting over the rock-mass on the left can be seen 

* From the point of view of the audience. 

1 



2 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act I 

the wing of an aeroplane, the nacelle and under- 
carriage hidden. It has evidently just made a rather 
disastrous forced landing. 

The pilot and two passengers are in the act of extri- 
cating themselves from the wreck, and clambering 
down the cliff. The pilot is Dr. Basil Traherne; 
the passengers are Major Antony Crespin and his 
wife LuciLLA. Traherne (S5) is a well set-up 
man, vigorous and in good training. Crespin (40), 
somewhat heavy and dissipated-looking, is in khaki. 
LuciLLA (28) is a tall, slight, athletic woman, wear- 
ing a tailor-made tweed suit. All three on their 
first appearance wear aviation helmets and leather 
coats. The coats they take off as occasion offers. 

Their proceedings are watched with wonder and fear by a 
group of dark and rudely-clad natives, rather Mon- 
golian in feature. They chatter eagerly among 
themselves. A man of higher stature and more 
Aryan type, the Priest of the temple, seems to have 
some authority over them. 

As soon as all three newcomers have descended, the 
Priest gives some directions to a young man among 
the bystanders, who makes off at great speed. He is 
a messenger to the castle. 

LuciLLA 
[To Crespin, who is at a difficult point, and about to 
jwnp.'\ Take care, Antony! Let Dr. Traherne give you 
a hand. 

Traherne 
[Already on the ground.] Yes. 

Crespin 
Hang it all, I'm not such a crock as all that. [Jumps 
heavily, but safely.] 



Act I] THE GREEN GODDESS 3 

Traherne 
Are you all right, Mrs. Crespin? Not very much 
shaken ? 

LUCILIA 
Not a bit. 

Traherne 
It was a nasty bump. 

LUCILLA 

You managed splendidly. 

Crespin 
Come on, Lu — sit on that ledge, and I can swing you 

down. 

Traherne 
Let me — 

[Crespin and Traherne support her as she jumps 
lightly to the ground.^ 

LUCILLA 

Thank you. 

Crespin 

That last ten minutes was pretty trying. I don't mind 
owning that my nerves are all of a twitter. [Producing 
a pocket flask, and pouring some of its contents into the 
cup.'\ Have a mouthful, Traherne? 

Traherne 
No, thank you. 

Crespin 
[To LuciLLA.] You won't, I know. I will. 
[Drinks off the brandy, then pours and drinks again.] 
That's better! — And now — where are we. Doctor? 

Traherne 
I have no notion. 



4 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act I 

Crespin 
Let's ask the populace. 

[The natives have been standing at some distance, 
awe-struck, but chattering eagerly among themselves. 
The Priest, intently watching, is silent. Crespin 
advances towards him, the natives meanwhile shrink- 
ing back in fear. The Priest salaams slightly and 
almost contemptuously. Crespin addresses him in 
Hindustani, which he evidently does not understand. 
He in turn pours forth a speech of some length, 
pointing to the temple and the palace. Crespin can 
make nothing of it. While this is proceeding: 

Traherne 
[In a low voice, to Lucilla.] You were splendid, all 
through ! 

Lucilla 
I had perfect faith in y o u. 

Traherne 
If I'd had another pint of petrol, I might have headed 
for that sort of esplanade behind the castle — 

Lucilla 
Yes, I saw it. 

Traherne 
- — and made an easy landing. But I simply h a d to 
try for this place, and trust to luck. 

Lucilla 
It wasn't luck, but your skill, that saved us. 

Traherne 
You are very good to me. 



Act I] THE GREEN GODDESS 5 

Crespin 
[Turning.] It's no use — he doesn't understand a 
word of Hindustani. You know Russian, don't you, 
Doctor? 

Traherne 
A little. 

Crespin 
We must be well on towards Central Asia. Suppose 
you try him in Russian. Ask him where the hell we 
are, and who owns the shooting-box up yonder. [Tra- 
herne says something to the Priest in Russian.] 

The Priest 
[His face lighting up, points to the earth, and then 
makes an enveloping gesture to signify the whole coun- 
try, saying:] Rukh, Rukh, Rukh, Rukh. 

Crespin 
What the deuce is he Rooking about? 

Traherne 
Goodness knows. 

LUCILLA 

I believe I know. Wait a minute. [Feeling in her 
pockets.] I thought I had the paper with me. I read 
in the Leader, just before we started, that the three men 
who murdered the Political Officer at Abdulabad came 
from a wild region at the back of the Himalayas, called 
Rukh. 

Traherne 
Now that you mention it, I h a v e heard of the place. 
[He turns to the Priest and says a few more words in 
Russian, pointing to the Palace. The Priest replies 
" Raja Sahib " several times over.] 



6 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act I 

Crespin 
Oh, it's Windsor Castle, is it? Well, we'd better 
make tracks for it. Come, Lucilla. [The Priest, 
much excited, stops his way, pouring forth a stream of 
unintelligible language. Traherne says something to 
him in Russian, whereupon he pauses and then says two 
or three words, slowly and with difficulty — one of 
them " Raja."] 

Traherne 

His Russian is even more limited than mine; but I 
gather that the Raja has been sent for and will come 
here. 

Crespin 

[Lighting a cigarette.] All right — then we'd better 
await developments. [Seats himself on a green-painted 
stone. As the Priest sees this, he makes a rush, hustles 
Crespin off, with wild exclamations, and then, disre- 
garding him, makes propitiatory gestures, and mutters 
formulae of deprecation, to the stone.] 

Crespin 
[Very angry, lays his hand, on his revolver-case.] 
Confound you, take care what you're doing! You'd 
better treat us civilly, or — 

Traherne 
[Laying a hand on his arm.] Gently, gently, Major. 
This is evidently some sort of sacred enclosure, and you 
were sitting on one of the gods. 

Crespin 
Well, damn him, he might have told me — 

Traherne 
If he had you wouldn't have understood. The fellow 



Act I] THE GREEN GODDESS 7 

seems to be the priest — you see, he's begging the god's 
pardon. 

Crespin 
If I knew his confounded lingo I'd jolly well make 
him beg mine. 

Traherne 
We'd better be careful not to tread on their corns. 
We have Mrs. Crespin to think of. 

Crespin 
Damn it, sir, do you think I don't know how to take 
care of my own wife? 

Traherne 
I think you're a little hasty. Major — that's all. 
These are evidently queer people, and we're dependent 
on them to get us out of our hobble. 

LuciLLA 
[Down, left.] Do you think I could sit on this stone 
without giving offence to the deities? 

Traherne 
Oh, yes, that seems safe enough. [After Lucilla is 
seated.] I don't know how to apologize for having got 
you into this mess. 

Lucilla 
Don't talk nonsense. Dr. Traherne. Who can fore- 
see a Himalayan fog? 

Traherne 
The only thing to do was to get above it, and then, 
of course, my bearings were gone. 



8 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act I 

LUCILLA 

Now that we're safe, I should think it all great fun 
if it weren't for the children. 

Crespin 
Oh, they don't expect us for a week, and surely it 
won't take us more than that to get back to civilization. 

Traherne 
Or, at all events, to a telegraph line. 

LUCILLA 

I suppose there's no chance of flying back? 

Traherne 
Not the slightest, I'm afraid. I fancy the old 'bus is 
done for. 

LuciLLA 
Oh, Dr. Traherne, what a shame! And you'd only 
had it a few weeks ! 

Traherne 
What does it matter so long as y o u are safe? 

LUCILLA 

What does it matter so long as we're all safe? 

Crespin 
That's not what Traherne said. Why pretend to be 
blind to his — chivalry? 

Traherne 
[Trying to laugh it off.] Of course I'm glad you're 
all right. Major, and I'm not sorry to be in a whole skin 
myself. But ladies first, you know. 



Act I] THE GREEN GODDESS 9 

Crespin 
The perfect knight errant,^ in fact! 

Traherne 
Decidedly " errant." I couldn't well have gone more 
completely astray. 

LUCILLA 

Won't you look at the machine and see if it's quite 
hopeless? 

Traherne 
Yes, at once. [He goes towards the wreck of the 
aeroplane and passes out of sight. The populace clus- 
tered in and around the temple on the right are intent 
upon the marvel of the aeroplane, but the Priest fixes 
his gaze upon Crespin and Lucilla.] 

Crespin 
[Sits beside Lucilla on the stone.] Well, Lucilla! 

Lucilla 
Well? 

Crespin 
That was a narrow squeak. 

Lucilla 
Yes, I suppose so. I 

Crespin 
All's well that ends well, eh? 

Lucilla 
Of course. 

Crespin 
You don't seem very grateful to Providence. 



10 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act I 

LUCILLA 

For sending the fog? 

Crespin 
For getting us down safely — all three. 

LUCILIA 

It was Dr. Traherne's nerve that did that. If he 
hadn't kept his head — 

Crespin 
We should have crashed. One or other of us would 
probably have broken his neck; and if Providence had 
played up, it might have been the right one. 

LuciLLA 
What do you mean? 

Crespin 
It might have been me. Then you'd have thanked 
God, right enough! 

LUCILLA 

Why will you talk like this, Antony? If I hadn't 
sent Dr. Traherne away just now, you'd have been saying 
these things in his hearing. 

Crespin 
Well, why not? He's quite one of the family! Don't 
tell me he doesn't know all about the " state of our 
relations," as they say in the divorce court. 

LUCILLA 

If he does, it's not from me. No doubt he knows what 
the whole station knows. 



Act I] THE GREEN GODDESS 11 

Crespin 
And what does the whole station know? Why, that 
your deadly coldness drives me to drink. I've lived for 
three years in an infernal clammy fog like that we passed 
through. Who's to blame if I take a whiskey-peg now 
and then, to keep the chill out? 

LuciLLA 
Oh, Antony, why go over it all again? You know 
very well it was drink — and other things — that came 
between us; not my coldness, as you call it, that drove 
you to drink. 

Crespin 
Oh, you good women! You patter after the parson 
" Forgive us as we forgive those that trespass against 
us." But you don't know what forgiveness means. 

LUCILLA 

What's the use of it, Antony? Forgive? I have 
" forgiven " you. I don't try to take the children from 
you, though it might be better for them if I did. But 
to forgive is one thing, to forget another. When a 
woman has seen a man behave as you have behaved, do 
you think it is possible for her to forget it, and to love 
him afresh? There are women in novels, and perhaps 
in the slums, who have such short memories; but I am 
not one of them. 

Crespin 
No, by God, you're not! So a man's whole life is to 
be ruined — 

LUCILLA 

Do you think yours is the only life to be ruined? 



12 T HE GREEN GODDESS [Act I 

Crespin 
Ah, there we have it! I've not only offended your 
sensibilities; I am in your way. You love this other 
man, this model of all the virtues ! 

LuciLLA 
You have no right to say that. 

Crespin 
[Disregarding her protest.] He's a paragon. He's a 
wonder. He's a mighty microbe-killer before the Lord; 
he's going to work Heaven knows what miracles, only he 
hasn't brought them off yet. And you're cursing the 
mistake you made in marrying a poor devil of a soldier- 
man instead of a first-class scientific genius. Come! 
Make a clean breast of it! You may as well! 

LuciLLA 
I have nothing to answer. While I continue to live 
with you, I owe you an account of my actions — but not 
of my thoughts. 

Crespin 
Your actions? Oh, I know very well you're too 
cold — too damned respectable — to kick over the traces. 
And then you have the children to think of. 

LuciLLA 

Yes; I have the children. 

Crespin 
Besides, there's no hurry. If you only have patience 
for a year or two, I'll do the right thing for once, and 
drink myself to death. 

LuciLLA 
You have only to keep yourself a little in hand to live 
to what they call " a good old age." 



Act I] THE GREEN GODDESS 13 

Crespin 
Ton my soul, I've a mind to try to, though goodness 
knows my life is not worth living. I was a fool to come 
on this crazy expedition — 

LUCILLA 

Why, it was you yourself that jumped at Dr. Traherne's 
proposal. 

Crespin 

I thought we'd get to the kiddies a week earlier. 
They'd be glad to see me, poor little things. They 
don't despise their daddy. 

LuciLLA 
It shan't be my fault, Antony, if they ever do. But 
you don't make it easy to keep up appearances. 

Crespin 
Oh, Lu, Lu, if you would treat me like a human 
being — if you would help me and make life tolerable 
for me, instead of a thing that won't bear looking at 
except through the haze of drink — we might retrieve 
the early days. God knows I never cared two pins for 
any woman but you — 

LuciLLA 
No, the others, I suppose, only helped you, like whis- 
key, to see the world through a haze. / saw the world 
through a haze when I married you; but you have dis- 
pelled it once for all. Don't force me to tell you how 
impossible it is for me to be your wife again. I am 
the mother of your children — that gives you a terrible 
hold over me. Be content with that. 

Traherne 
[Still unseen, calls:] Oh, Mrs. Crespin! [He ap- 
pears, clambering down from the aeroplane.] I've 



14 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act I 

found in the wreck the newspaper you spoke of — you 
were right about Rukh. 

Crespin 
[As Traherne comes forward.] What does it say? 

Traherne 
[Reads.] "Abdulabad, Tuesday. Sentence of death 
has been passed on the three men found guilty of the 
murder of Mr. Haredale. It appears that these mis- 
creants are natives of Rukh, a small and little-known 
independent state among the northern spurs of the 
Himalayas." 

LUCILIA 
Yes, that's what I read. 

Traherne 
This news isn't the best possible passport for us in 
our present situation. 

LUCILLA 

But if we're hundreds of miles from anywhere, it can't 
be known here yet. 

Crespin 
[Lighting a cigarette.] In any case, they wouldn't 
dare to molest us. 

Traherne 
All the same it might be safest to burn this para- 
graph in case there's anybody here that can read it. [He 
tears a strip out of the paper, lights it at Crespin's 
match, watches it burn till he has to drop the flaming 
remnant of it, upon which he stamps. LuciLLA takes 
the rest of the small local paper and lays it beside her 
leather coat on the stone, left. The Priest intently 
watches all these proceedings.] 

[Meanwhile strange ululations, mingled with the 



Act I] THE GREEN GODDESS 15 

throb of tom-toms and the clash of cymbals, have 
made themselves faintly heard from the direction of 
the mountain path, right.] 

Crespin 
Hallo! What's this? 

Traherne 
Sounds like the march of the Great Panjandrum. 

[The sounds rapidly approach. The natives all 
run to the point where the path debouches on the 
open space. They prostrate themselves, some on 
each side of the way. A wild procession comes 
down the mountain path. It is headed by a gigantic 
negro flourishing two naked sabres, and gyrating in 
a barbaric war-dance. Then come half a dozen mu- 
sicians with tom-toms and cymbals. Then a litter 
carried by four bearers. Through its gauze curtains 
the figure of the Raja can be indistinctly seen. 
Immediately behind the litter comes Watkins, an 
English valet, demure and correct, looking as if he 
had just strolled in from St. fames Street. The 
procession closes with a number of the Raja's body- 
guard, in the most fantastic, parti-coloured attire, 
and armed with antique match-locks, some 
of them with barrels six or seven feet long. The 
Raja's litter is set down in front of the temple. 
Watkins opens the curtains and gives his arm to the 
Raja as he alights. The Raja makes a step towards 
the European party in silence. He is a tall, well- 
built man of forty, dressed in the extreme of Eastern 
gorgeousness. Crespin advances and salutes.] 

Crespin 
Does Your Highness speak English? 



16 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act I 

Raja 
Oh, yes, a little. [As a matter of fact he speaks it 
irreproachably.] 

Crespin 
[Pulling himself together and speaking like a soldier 
and a man of breeding.] Then I have to apologize for 
our landing uninvited in your territory. 

Raja 
Uninvited, but, I assure you, not unwelcome. 

Crespin 
We are given to understand that this is the State of 
Rukh. 

Raja 
The kingdom of Rukli, Major — if I rightly read the 
symbols on your cuff. 

Crespin 
[Again salutes.] Major Crespin. Permit me to in- 
troduce my wife — 

Raja 
[With a profound salaam.] I am delighted, Madam, 
to welcome you to my secluded dominions. You are the 
first lady of your nation I have had the honour of 
receiving. 

LUCILLA 
Your Highness is very kind. 

Crespin 
And this is Dr. Basil Traherne, whose aeroplane — or 
what is left of it — you see. 

Raja 
Doctor Traherne? The Doctor Traherne, whose nairu^. 



Act I] THE GREEN GODDESS 17 

I have so often seen in the newspaper? ''The Pasteur 
of Malaria." 

Traherne 
The newspapers make too much of my work. It is 
very incomplete. 

Raja 
But you are an aviator as well? 

Traherne 
Only as an amateur. 

Raja 
I presume it is some misadventure — a most fortu- 
nate misadventure for me — that has carried you so far 
into the wilds of the Himalayas? 

Traherne 
Yes — we got lost in the clouds. Major and Mrs. 
Crespin were coming up from the plains to see their 
children at a hill station — 

Raja 

Pahari, no douht? 

Traherne 
Yes, Pahari — and I was rash enough to suggest that 
I might save them three days' travelling by taking them 
up in my aeroplane. 

Raja 
Madam is a sportswoman, then? 

LuciLLA 
Oh, I have been up many times. 

Crespin 
[With a tinge of sarcasm.] Yes, many times. 



18 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act I 

LUCILLA 

It was no fault of Dr. Traherne's that we went astray. 
The weather was impossible. 

Raja 
Well, you have made a sensation here, I can assure 
you. My people have never seen an aeroplane. They 
are not sure — simple souls — whether you are gods or 
demons. But the fact of your having descended in the 
precincts of a temple of our local goddess — [ With a 
wave of his hand towards the idol.] allow me to intro- 
duce you to her — is considered highly significant. 

Crespin 
I hope, sir, that we shall find no difficulty in obtaining 
transport back to civ — to India. 

Raja 

To civilization, you were going to say? Why hesitate, 
my dear sir? We know very well that we are bar- 
barians. We are quite reconciled to the fact. We have 
had some five thousand years to accustom ourselves to it. 
This sword [Touching his scimitar.] is a barbarous 
weapon compared with your revolver; but it was worn 
by my ancestors when yours were daubing themselves 
blue and picking up a precarious livelihood in the woods. 
[Breaking off hastily to prevent any reply.] But Madam 
is standing all this time! Watkins, what are you think- 
ing of? Some cushions. [Watkins piles some cushions 
from the litter so as to form a seat for Lucilla. Mean- 
while the Raja continues.] Another litter for Madam, 
and mountain-chairs for the gentlemen, will be here in a 
few minutes. Then I hope you will accept the hospi- 
tality of my poor house. 



Act I] THE GREEN GODDESS 19 

LUCILIA 

We are giving a great deal of trouble, Your Highness. 

Raja 
A great deal of pleasure, Madam. 

Crespin 
But I hope, sir, there will be no difiiculty about trans- 
port back to — India. 

Raja 
Time enough to talk of that. Major, when you have 
rested and recuperated after your adventure. You will 
do me the honour of dining with me this evening? I 
trust you will not find us altogether uncivilized. 

LUCILLA 

[Lightly.] Your Highness will have to excuse the 
barbarism of our attire. We have nothing to wear but 
what we stand up in. 

Raja 

Oh, I think we can put that all right. Watkins! 

Watkins 
[Advancing.] Your 'Ighness! 

Raja 
You are in the confidence of our Mistress of the Robes. 
How does our wardrobe stand? 

V^a".. ....... 

Watkins 
A fresh consignment of Paris models come in only last 
week. Your 'Ighness. 

Raja 

Good! Then I hope. Madam, that you may find 
among them some rag that you will deign to wear. 



20 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act I 

LUCILLA 

Paris models, Your Highness! And you talk of being 
uncivilized ! 

Raja 
We do what we can, Madam. I sometimes have the 
pleasure of entertaining European ladies — though not, 
hitherto. Englishwomen — in my solitudes ; and I like to 
mitigate the terrors of exile for them. Then as for civil- 
ization, you know, I have always at my elbow one of its 
most finished products. Watkins! 

Watkins 
[Stepping forward.] Your 'Ighness! 

Raja 

You will recognize in Watkins, gentlemen, another 
representative of the Ruling Race. [Watkins, with 
downcast eyes, touches his hat to Crespin and Tra- 
HERNE.] I assure you he rules me with an iron hand — 
not always in a velvet glove. Eh, Watkins? 

Watkins 
Your 'Ighness will 'ave your joke. 

Raja 

He is my Prime Minister and all my Cabinet — but 
more particularly my Lord Chamberlain. No one can 
touch him at mixing a cocktail or making a salad. My 
entire household trembles at his nod; even my chef 
quails before him. Nothing comes amiss to him; for he 
is, like myself, a man without prejudices. You may be 
surprised at my praising him to his face in this fashion; 
you may foresee some danger of — what shall I say? — 
swelled head. But I know my Watkins; there is not the 
slightest risk of his outgrowing that modest bowler. He 



Act I] THE GREEN GODDESS 21 

knows his value to me, and he knows that he would 
never be equally appreciated elsewhere. I have guar- 
antees for his fidelity — eh, Watkins? 

Watkins 
I know when I'm well off, if that's what Your 'Ighness 
means. 

Raja 
I mean a little more than that — but no matter. I 
have sometimes thought of instituting a peerage, in order 
that I might raise Watkins to it. But I mustn't let my 
admiration for British institutions carry me too far. — 
Those scoundrels of bearers are taking a long time, 
Watkins. 

Watkins 
The lady's litter 'ad to 'ave fresh curtains, Your 'Igh- 
ness. They won't be a minute, now. 

Raja 
You were speaking of transport. Major — is your 
machine past repair. Dr. Traherne? 

Traherne 
Utterly, I'm afraid. 

Raja 

Let us look at it. [Turns and finds that his body- 
guard are all clustered on the path, looking at it. He 
gives a sharp word of command. They scamper into a 
sort of loose order, up, right.] Ah, yes — propeller 
smashed — planes crumpled up — 

Traherne 
Under-carriage wrecked — 



22 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act I 

Raja 
I'm afraid we can't offer to repair the damage for you. 

Traherne 
I'm afraid not, sir. 

Raja 

A wonderful machine! Yes, Europe has something 
to boast of. I wonder what the Priest here thinks of it. 
[He says a few words to the Priest, who salaams, and 
replies volubly at some length.] He says it is the great 
roc — the giant bird, you know, of our Eastern stories. 
And he declares that he plainly saw his Goddess hover- 
ing over you as you descended, and guiding you towards 
her temple. 

Traherne 

I wish she could have guided us towards the level 
ground I saw behind your castle. I could have made a 
safe landing there. 

Raja 

No doubt — on my parade ground — almost the only 
level spot in my dominions. 

LUCILLA 

These, I suppose, are your bodyguard? 

Raja 

My household troops, Madam. 

LUCILLA 
How picturesque they are! 

Raja 
Oh, a relic of barbarism, I know. I can quite under- 
stand the contempt with which my friend the Major is 
at this moment regarding them. 



Act I] THE GREEN GODDESS 23 

Crespin 
Irregular troops, Raja. Often first-class fighting men. 

Raja 
And you think that, if irregularity is the virtue of 
irregular troops, these — what is the expression, Wat- 
kins? 

Watkins 
Tyke the cyke, Your Tghness? 

Raja 

That's it — take the cake — that is what you are 
thinking? 

Crespin 
Well, they would he hard to beat, sir. 

Raja 
I repeat — a relic of barbarism. You see, I have 
strong conservative instincts — I cling to the fashions of 
my fathers — and my people would be restive if I didn't. 
I maintain these fellows, as his Majesty the King- 
Emperor keeps up the Beefeaters in the Tower. But I 
also like to move with the times, as perhaps you will 
allow me to show you. [He blows two short blasts 
on a silver whistle hanging round his neck. Instantly 
from behind every rock and shrub — from every bit of 
cover — there emerges a soldier, in spick-and-span 
European uniform (Russian in style), armed with the 
latest brand of magazine rifles. They stand like statues 
at attention.] 

Crespin 



Good Lord! 
Hallo! 



Traherne 



24 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act I 

Raja 
[To LuciLLA, who makes no move.^ I trust I did not 
startle you, Madam? 

LUCILLA 

Oh, not at all. I'm not nervous. 

Raja 

You of course realize that this effect is not original. 
I have plagiarized it from the excellent Walter Scott: 

"These are Clan-Alpine's warriors true, 
And, Saxon, I am Roderick Dhu! " 

But I think you'll admit, Major, that my men know how 
to take cover. 

Crespin 
By the Lord, sir, they must move like cats — for you 
can't have planted them there before we arrived. 

Raja 
No, you had given me no notice of your coming. 

Lucilla 
Perhaps the Goddess did. 

Raja 

Not she. Madam. She keeps her own counsel. These 
men followed me down from the palace and have taken 
up position while we have been speaking. [The Raja 
gives a word of command, and the men rapidly assemble 
and form in two ranks, an officer on their flank.] 

Crespin 
A very smart body of men. Raja. Allow me to con- 
gratulate you on their training. 



Act I] THE GREEN GODDESS 25 

Raja 
I am greatly flattered, Major. I superintend it my- 
self. — Ah, here comes the litter. [Down the path comes 
a litter borne, like the Raja's, by four men. It is fol- 
lowed by tivo mountain- chairs carried by two men 
'apiece.] Permit me, Madam, to hand you to your 
palanquin. [He offers LuciLLA his hand. As she rises 
she picks up her leather coat, and the newspaper falls 
to the ground. The Raja notices it.] Forgive me, 
Madam. [Picks up the paper and looks at it.] A news- 
paper, only two days old! This is such a rarity you 
must allow me to glance at it. [He opens the paper and 
sees that a strip has been torn out from the back page.] 
Ah! the telegraphic news gone! What a pity! In my 
seclusion, I hunger for tidings from the civilized world. 
[The Priest comes forward and speaks to him eagerly, 
suggesting in pantomime Traherne's action in burning 
the paper, and pointing to the ashes on the ground, at 
which the Raja looks.] You burned this column? 

Traherne 
Unfortunately, I did. 

Raja 
Ah! [Pause.] I know your motive. Dr. Traherne, 
and I appreciate it. You destroyed it out of con- 
sideration for my feelings, wishing to spare me a painful 
piece of intelligence. That was very thoughtful — but 
quite unnecessary. I already know what you tried to 

conceal. 

Crespin 

You know — ! 

Traherne 
Your Highness knows — ! 
[Simultaneously.] 



26 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act I 

Raja 
I know that three of my subjects, accused of a political 
crime, have been sentenced to death. 

Traherne 
How is it possible — ? 

Raja 

Bad news flies fast, Dr. Traherne. But one thing you 
can perhaps tell me — is there any chance of their sen- 
tences being remitted? 

Traherne 
I am afraid not. Your Highness. 

Crespin 
Remitted? I should rather say not. It was a cold- 
blooded, unprovoked murder. 

Raja 
Unprovoked, you think? Well, I won't argue the 
point. And the execution is to be — ? 

Traherne 
I think tomorrow — or the day after. 

Raja 
Tomorrow or the day after — yes. [Turning to 
LuciLLA.] Forgive me. Madam — I have kept you 
waiting. 

Traherne 
Does Your Highness know anything of these men? 

Raja 

[Over his shoulder, as he hands LuciLLA into the 
litter.] Know them? Oh, yes — they are my brothers. 



Act I] THE GREEN GODDESS 27 

[He seats himself on his own litter and claps his hands 
twice. Both litters are raised and move off, Lucilla's 
first. The regular soldiers line the way, in single rank. 
They salute as the litters pass. Watkins follows the 
Raja's. Crespin and Traherne seat themselves in their 
chairs. As they do so:] 

Crespin 
His brothers? What did he mean? 

Traherne 
[Shrugging his shoulders.] Heaven knows! 

Crespin 
I don't half like our host, Traherne. There's too 
much of the cat about him. 

Traherne 
Or of the tiger. And how the devil had he got the 
news? 

[As the tivo chairs move off, Crespin first, the two 
ranks of soldiers close round them. The irregu- 
lars and musicians, headed by the dancing negro, 
bring up the rear. The Priest prostrates himself, 
as if in thanksgiving, before the Goddess.] 

curtain 



ACT SECOND 

A spacious and well-proportioned room, opening at the 
back upon a wide loggia. Beyond the loggia can be 
seen distant snow-peaks and a strip of sky. Late 
afternoon light. : 

The room is furnished in a once splendid but now very 
old-fashioned and faded style. Furniture of black 
picked out with gold, and upholstered in yellow 
damask. A great crystal chandelier in the middle 
of the ceiling, and under it a circular ottoman. 
Right, a large two-leaved door; left, a handsome 
marble fireplace, with a mirror over it. Candle- 
sticks with crystal pendants at each end of the 
mantelpiece, and in the middle a bronze statuette, 
some eighteen inches high, representing the many- 
armed Goddess. A wood fire laid, but unlighted. 
Near the fireplace, two quite modern saddle-bag arm- 
chairs, out of keeping with the stiffness of the 
remaining furniture. A small table near the door, 
right, with modern English and French books on it. 
A handsome gramophone in the corner, right. On 
the walls, left and right, some very bad paintings of 
fine-looking Orientals in gorgeous attire. Electric 
lights. 

Traherne discovered at back, centre, looking out over 
the landscape. He does not go out upon the loggia 
(which can be entered both right and left without 
passing through the room) because two turbanned 
servants are there, under the direction of an old and 

28 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 29 

dignified Major-domo, arranging a luxurious dinner 
table, with four covers. Traherne stands motion- 
less for a moment. Then enters Crespin by the 
door, right, ushered in by a servant, who salaams 
and retires. 

Crespin 
Ah, there you are, Doctor. 

Traherne 
[Turning.'] Hullo! How did you get on? 

Crespin 
All right. Had a capital tub. And you? 

Traherne 
Feeling more like a human being. And what about 
Mrs. Crespin? I hope she's all right. 

Crespin 
She was taken off by an ayah as soon as we got in — 
presumably to the women's quarters. 

Traherne 
And you let her go off alone? 

Crespin 
What the hell could I do? I couldn't thrust myself 
into the women's quarters. 

Traherne 
You could have kept her with you. 

Crespin 
Do you think she'd have stayed? And, come to that, 
what business is it of yours? 



30 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

Traherne 
It's any man's business to be concerned for a woman's 
safety. 

Crespin 
Well, well — all right. But there was nothing I could 
have done or that she would let me do. And I don't 
think there's any danger. 

Traherne 
Let us hope not. 

Crespin 
It's a vast shanty this. 

Traherne 
It's a palace and a fortress in one. 

Crespin 
A devilish strong place before the days of big guns. 
But a couple of howitzers would soon make it look pretty 
foolish. 

Traherne 
No doubt; but how would you get them here? 

Crespin 
[Looking at the dinner table.] I say — it looks as if 
our friend were going to do us well. [One of the servants 
comes in with a wine-cooler. When the man has gone, 
Crespin picks up the bottle and looks at the label.] 
Perrier Jouet, nineteen-o-six, by the lord! [He strolls 
over to the ottoman, and seats himself, facing the fire- 
place.] It's a rum start this, Traherne. I suppose you 
intellectual chaps would call it romantic. 

Traherne 
[Examining the figure of the Goddess on the mantel- 



Act II] TH E GREEN GODDESS 31 

piece.] More romantic than agreeable, I should say. 
I don't like the looks of this lady. 

Crespin 
What is she? 

Traherne 
The same figure we saw in the little temple, where 
we landed. 

Crespin 
How many arms has she got? 

Traherne 
Six. 

Crespin 
She could give you a jolly good hug, anyway. 

Traherne 
You wouldn't want another. 

Crespin 
Where do you suppose we really are, Traherne? 

Traherne 
On the map, you mean? 

Crespin 
Of course. 

Traherne 
Oh, in the never-never land. Somewhere on the way 
to Bokhara. I've been searching my memory for all I 
ever heard about Rukh. I fancy very little is known, 
except that it seems to send forth a peculiarly poisonous 
breed of fanatics. 

Crespin 
Like those who did poor Haredale in? 



32 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

Traherne 
Precisely. 

Crespin 
D'you think our host was serious when he said they 
were his brothers? Or was he only pulling our leg, 
curse his impudence? 

Traherne 
He probably meant caste-brothers, or simply men of 
the same race. But, even so, it's awkward. 

Crespin 
I don't see what these beggars, living at the back of 
the north wind, have got to do with Indian politics. 
We've never interfered with them. 

Traherne 
Oh, it's a case of Asia for the Asians. Ever since 
the Japanese beat the Russians, the whole continent has 
been itching to kick us out. 

Crespin 
So that they may cut each other's throats at leisure, eh? 

Traherne 
We Westerners never cut each other's throats, d o we? 
[Watkins has entered at the hack, right, carry- 
ing a silver centre-piece for the table. He sets it 
down and is going out to the left, when Crespin 
catches sight of him and hails him.'\ 

Crespin 
Hallo! You there! What's your name! [Watkins 
stops.'] Just come here a minute, will you? 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 33 

Watkins 

Meaning me, sir? [He advances into the room. 
There is a touch of covert insolence in his manner.] 

Crespin 
Yes, you, Mr. ? Mr. ? 

Watkins 
Watkins is my name, sir. 

Crespin 
Right ho! Watkins. Can you tell us where we are, 
Watkins? 

Watkins 
They calls the place Rukh, sir. 

Crespin 
Yes, yes, we know that. But where i s Rukh? 

Watkins 
I hunderstand these mountains is called the 'Imalayas, 
sir. 

Crespin 
Damn it, sir, we don't want a lesson in geography! 

Watkins 
No, sir? My mistake, sir. 

Traherne 
Major Crespin means that we want to know how far 
we are from the nearest point in India. 

Watkins 
I really couldn't say, sir. Not so very far, I dessay, 
as the crow flies. 



34 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

Traherne 
Unfortunately we're not in a position to fly with the 
crow. How long does the journey take? 

Watkins 
They tell me it takes about three weeks to Cashmere. 

Crespin 
They tell you! Surely you must remember how long 
it took you? 

Watkins 
No, sir, excuse me, sir — I've never been in India. 

Crespin 
Not been in India? And I was just thinking, as I 
looked at you, that I seemed to have seen you before. 

Watkins 
Not in India, sir. We might 'ave met in England, 
but I don't call to mind having that pleasure. 

Crespin 
But if you haven't been in India, how the hell did you 
get here? 

Watkins 
I came with 'Is 'Ighness, sir, by way of Tashkent. All 
our dealin's with Europe is by way of Russia. 

Traherne 
But it's possible to get to India direct, and not by way 
of Central Asia? 

Watkins 
Oh, yes, it's done, sir. But I'm told there are some 
very tight places to negotiate — like the camel and the 
needle's eye, as you might say. 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 35 

Traherne 
Difficult travelling for a lady, eh? 

Watkins 
Next door to hirapossible, I should guess, sir. 

Crespin 
A nice look-out, Traherne! [To Watkins.] Tell me, 
my man — is His Highness — h'm — married? 

Watkins 
Oh, yessir — very much so, sir. 

Crespin 
Children ? 

Watkins 
He has fifteen sons, sir. 

Crespin 
The daughters don't count, eh? 

Watkins 
I've never 'ad a hopportunity of counting 'em, sir. 

Traherne 
He said the men accused of assassinating a political 
officer were his brothers — 

Watkins 
[Quickly.] Did 'e say that, sir? 

Traherne 
Didn't you hear him? What did he mean? 

Watkins 
I'm sure I couldn't say, sir. 'Is 'Ighness is what 
you'd call a very playful gentleman, sir. 



36 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

Traherne 
But I don't see the joke in saying that. 

Watkins 
No, sir? P'raps 'Is 'Ighness'll explain, sir. [A 
pause,] 

Crespin 
Your master spoke of visits from European ladies — 
do they come from Russia? 

Watkins 
From various parts, I understand, sir, — mostly from 
Paris. 

Crespin 
Any here now? 

Watkins 
I really couldn't say, sir. 

Traherne 
They don't dine with His Highness? 

Watkins 
Oh no, sir. 'Is 'Ighness sometimes sups with them. 

Crespin 
And my wife — Mrs. Crespin — ? 

Watkins 
Make your mind easy, sir — the lady won't meet any 
hundesirable characters, sir. I give strict orders to the 
— the female what took charge of the lady. 

Traherne 
She is to be trusted? 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 37 

Watkins 
Habsolutely, sir. She is — in a manner of speakin', — 
my wife, sir. 

Crespin 
Mrs. Watkins, eh? 

Watkins 
Yessir — I suppose you would say so. 

Traherne 
But now look here, Watkins — you say we're three 
weeks away from Cashmere — yet the Raja knew of the 
sentence passed on these subjects of his, who were tried 
only three days ago. How do you account for that? 

Watkins 
I can't, sir. All I can say is, there's queer things goes 
on here. 

Traherne 
Queer things? What do you mean? 

Watkins 
Well, sir, them priests you know — they goes in a lot 
for what 'Is 'Ighness calls magic — 

Traherne 
Oh come, Watkins — you don't believe in that! 

Watkins 
Well, sir, p'raps not. I don't, not to say believe 
in it. But there's queer things goes on. I can't say no 
more, nor I can't say no less. If you'll excuse me, sir, 
I must just run my eye over the dinner-table. 'Is 'Igh- 
ness will be here directly. 



38 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

[He retires, inspects the table, makes one or two 
changes, and presently goes out by the back, left.] 

Crespin 
That fellow's either a cunning rascal or a damned 
fool. Which do you think? 

Traherne 
I don't believe he's the fool he'd like us to take him 
for. — Ah, here is Mrs. Crespin. 

[Enter Lucilla, right, ushered in by a hand- 
some Ayah. She is dressed in a gauzy gown of quite 
recent style, dark blue or crimson. Not in the least 
decolletee. At most the sleeves might be open, so as 
to show her arms to the elbow. No ornaments ex- 
cept a gold locket on a little gold chain round her 
neck. The costume is absolutely plain, but in strik- 
ing contrast to her travelling dress. Her hair is 
beautifully arranged.] 

Lucilla 
[To the Ayah.] Thank you. [The Ayah disappears. 
Lucilla advances, holding out her skirt a little.] Be- 
hold the Paris model! 

Crespin 
My eye, Lu, what a ripping frock! 

Traherne 
Talk of magic, Major! There's something in what 
our friend says. 

Lucilla 
What is that? What about magic? 

Crespin 
We'll tell you afterwards. Let's have your adven- 
tures first. 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 39 

LUCILLA 

No adventures precisely — only a little excursion into 
the Arabian Nights. 

Traherne 
Do tell us! 

LUCILLA 
[Evidently a little nervous, yet not without enjoy- 
ment of the experience.^ Well, my guide — the woman 
you saw — led me along corridor after corridor, and up- 
stairs and downstairs, till we came to a heavy bronze 
door where two villainous-looking blacks, with crooked 
swords, were on guard. I didn't like the looks of them a 
bit; but I was in for it and had to go on. They drew 
their swords and flourished a sort of salute, grinning 
with all their teeth. Then the ayah clapped her hands 
twice, some one inspected us through a grating in the 
door, and the ayah said a word or two — 

Traherne 
No doubt " Open sesame ! " 

LUCILLA 
The door was opened by a hideous, hump-backed old 
woman, just like the wicked fairy in a pantomime. She 
didn't actually bite me, but she looked as if she'd like to 
— and we passed on. More corridors, with curtained 
doorways, where I had a feeling that furtive eyes were 
watching me — though I can't positively say I saw them. 
But I'm sure I heard whisperings and titterings — 

Crespin 
Good Lord! If I'd thought they were going to treat 
you like that, I'd have — 



40 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

LUCILLA 

Oh, there was nothing you could have done; and, you 
see, no harm came of it. At last the woman led me into 
a large sort of wardrobe room, lighted from above, and 
almost entirely lined with glazed presses full of frocks. 
Then she slid back a panel, and there was a marble-lined 
bath room ! — a deep pool, with a trickle of water flow- 
ing into it from a dolphin's head of gold — just enough 
to make the surface ripple and dance. And all around 
were the latest Bond Street luxuries — shampooing bowls 
and brushes, bottles of essences, towels on hot rails and 
all the rest of it. The only thing that was disagreeable 
was a sickly odour from some burning pastilles — oh, 
and a coal-black bath-woman. 

Traherne 
It suggests a Royal Academy picture — " The Odal- 
isque's Pool." 

Crespin 
Or a soap advertisement. 

Traherne 
Same thing. 

LUCILLA 

Well, I wasn't sorry to play the odalisque for once; 
and when I had finished, lo and behold! the ayah had 
laid out for me half-a-dozen gorgeous and distinctly risky 
dinner-gowns. I had to explain to her in gestures that I 
couldn't live up to any of them, and would rather put on 
my old travelling dress. She seemed quite frightened at 
the idea — 

Crespin 

Ha ha! She'd probably have got the sack — perhaps 
literally — if she'd let you do that. 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 41 

LUCILIA 

Anyway, she at last produced this comparatively in- 
offensive frock. She did my hair, and wanted to finish 
me off with all sorts of necklaces and bangles, but I 
stuck to my old locket with the babies' heads. 

Crespin 
Well, all's well that ends well, I suppose. But if I'd 
foreseen all this " Secrets of the Zenana " business, I'm 
dashed if I wouldn't — 

LuCiLLA 

[Cutting him short.] What were you saying about 
magic when I came in. 

Traherne 
Only that this man, Watkins — he's the husband of 
your ayah, by the way — says queer things go on here, 
and pretends to believe in magic. 

LUCILLA 
Do you know, Antony, when the Raja was speaking 
about him down there, it seemed to me that his face was 
somehow familiar to me. 

Crespin 
There, Doctor! What did I say? I knew I'd seen 
him before, but I'm damned if I can place him. 

LUCILLA 
I wish I could get a good look at him. 

[Watkins enters, back, left, with something for 
the table.] 

Traherne 
There he is. Shall I call him in? 



42 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

LUCILLA 

Say I want him to thank his wife from me. 

Traherne 
[Calls.] Watkins! 

Watkins 
Sir? 

Traherne 
Mrs. Crespin would like to speak to you. [Watkins 
comes forward.] 

LUCILLA 
I hear, Watkins, that the ayah who so kindly attended 
to me is your wife. 

Watkins 
That's right, ma'am. 

Lucilla 
She gave me most efficient assistance, and, as she 
seems to know no English, I couldn't thank her. Will 
you be good enough to tell her how much I appreciated 
all she did for me? 

Watkins 
Thank you kindly, ma'am. She'll be proud to hear it. 
[Pause.] Is that all ma'am? 

Lucilla 
That's all, thank you, Watkins. 

[He returns to the loggia, but goes to the other 
side of the dinner-table and keeps an eye on the 
three.] 

Crespin 
You've a good memory for faces, Lu. Do you spot 
him? 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 43 

LUCILLA 

Don't let him see we're talking about him. I believe I 
do know him, but I'm not quite sure. Do you remem- 
ber, the first year we were in India, there was a man of 
the Dorsets that used often to be on guard outside the 
mess-room? 

Crespin 
By God, you've hit it ! 

Traherne 
Take care! He's watching. 

LuciLLA 
You remember he deserted, and was suspected of hav- 
ing murdered a woman in the bazaar. 

Crespin 
I believe it's the very man. 

LuciLLA 
It's certainly very like him. 

Crespin 
And he swears he's never been in India! 

Traherne 
Under the circumstances, he naturally would. 

LuciLLA 
At all events, he's not a man to be trusted. 

[At this moment the Raja enters by the door, 
right. He is in faultless European evening dress 
— white waistcoat, white tie, etc. No jewels, ex- 
cept the ribbon and star of a Russian order. Noth- 
ing oriental about him except his turban and his 
complexion.] 



44 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

Raja 

[As he enters.] Pray forgive me, Madam, for being 
the last to appear. The fact is, I had to hold a sort of 
Cabinet Council — or shall I say a conclave of prelates? 
— with regard to questions arising out of your most wel- 
come arrival. 

Crespin 
May we hope. Raja, that you were laying a dawk for 
our return? 

Raja 
Pray, pray. Major, let us postpone that question for the 
moment. First let us fortify ourselves; after dinner we 
will talk seriously. If you are in t o o great a hurry to 
desert me, must I not conclude. Madam, that you are dis- 
satisfied with your reception? 

LuciLLA 
How could we possibly be so ungrateful, your High- 
ness? Your hospitality overwhelms us. 

Raja 
I trust my Mistress of the Robes furnished you with 
all you required? 

LuciLLA 
With all and more than all. She offered me quite a 
bewildering array of gorgeous apparel. 

Raja 
Oh, I am glad. I had hoped that perhaps your choice 
might have fallen on something more — [He indicates by 
gestures, " decollete "]. But no — I was wrong — Mad- 
am's taste is irreproachable. 

[A servant enters from behind with cocktails on 
a silver salver. Lucilla refuses. The men accept. 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 45 

LuciLiA picks up a yellow French book on one of 
the tables.^ 

Raja 
You see, Madam, we fall behind the age here. We 
are still in the Anatole France period. If he bores you, 
here [picking up another book] is a Maurice Barres that 
you may find more amusing. 

LUCILLA 

Oh, I too am in the Anatole France period, I assure 
you. [Reads.] " Sur la Pierre Blanche" — isn't that 
the one you were recommending to me. Dr. Traherne? 

Traherne 
Yes, I like it better than some of his later books. 

Raja 

[Picking up a silver-grey book.] As for Bernard 
Shaw, I suppose he's quite a back number; but I con- 
fess his impudence entertains me. What do you say, 
Major? 

Crespin 

Never read a line of the fellow — except in John 
Bull. 

LuciLLA and Traherne 
[Simultaneously.] In John Bull! 

Crespin 
Somebody told me he wrote in John Bull — doesn't 
he? 

Raja 

Are you fond of music, Mrs. Crespin? [Goes to the 

gramophone, and turns over some records, till he finds 

one which he lays on the top of the pile.] Suppose we 

have some during dinner. [Watkins enters from the 



46 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

back, left.] Watkins, just start this top record will you. 
[Watkins does so.] 

[At this moment the Major-domo enters from the 
back, and says a few words.] 

Raja 

Ah! Madame est servie! Allow me — 
[He offers Lucilla his arm and leads her to the table. 
The others follow.] Will you take this seat, Madam? 
You here, Major — Dr. Traherne! [He himself sits to 
the left of the table; Lucilla on his right; Traherne op- 
posite him; and Crespin opposite Lucilla, with his 
back to the sunset, which is now flooding the scene.] 

Raja 
[As the servants offer dishes.] I can recommend this 
caviare. Major — and you'll take a glass of maraschino 
with it — Russian fashion. 

[Just as they sit down the gramophone reels out 
the first bars of a piece of music.] 

Lucilla 
[After listening a moment.] Oh, what i s that? 

Raja 
Don't you know it? 

Lucilla 
Oh yes, but I can't think what it is. 

Raja 
Gounod's " Funeral March of a Marionette " — a most 
humorous composition. May I pour you a glass of mar- 
aschino? [He goes on talking as 

THE curtain falls 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 47 

When it rises again, the glow has faded, and some 
big stars are pulsing in the strip of purple sky. The 
party is just finishing dinner. Dessert is on the 
table, which is lighted by electric lamps. Watkins 
stands behind the Raja's chair. The Major-domo 
and other servants hover round. 

The Raja has just finished a story, at which all laugh. 
A short pause.'] 

LUCILLA 

What a heavenly night! 

Raja 

Yes, our summer climate is far from bad. 

LUCILLA 

The air is like champagne. 

Raja 
A little over frappe for some tastes. What do you 
say, Madam? Shall we have coffee indoors? There is 
an edge to the air at these altitudes, as soon as the sun 
has gone down. 

LUCILLA 
[Shivers slightly.] Yes, I do feel a little chilly. 

Raja 

Watkins, send for a shawl for Madam. [Rising.] 
And ah — let us have the fire lighted. [Watkins goes 
off to the left. The Raja says a word to the Major- 
domo, who touches a switch in one of the pillars of the 
loggia opening. The chandelier and wall-lamps of the 
salon burst into brilliant light.^ 

Raja 
[Offering his arm to Lucilla.] Let me find you a 



48 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

comfortable seat, Madam. [He leads her to the further 
back of the two arm-chairs.] When the fire is lighted, I 
think you will find this quite pleasant. Take the other 
chair, Major. [Crespin does so.] I must really re- 
furnish this salon. My ancestors had no notion of com- 
fort. To tell the truth, I use the room only on state occa- 
sions, like the present. [Bowing to Lucilla.] I have 
a much more modern snuggery upstairs, which I hope 
you will see tomorrow. 

[Servants hand round coffee, liqueurs, cigars, cig- 
arettes during what follows. One of them lights 
the fire, of aromatic wood.] 

Raja 
[To Traherne, who has remained at the loggia open- 
ing, looking out into the night.] Star-gazing, Dr. Tra- 
herne? 

Traherne 
I beg your pardon. [Comes forward.] 

Lucilla 
Dr. Traherne is quite an astronomer. 

Raja 
As much at home with the telescope as with the miscro- 
scope, eh? 

Traherne 
Oh no. I'm no astronomer. I can pick out a few of 
the constellations, — that's all. 

Raja 

For my part, I look at the stars as little as possible. 
A.S a spectacle they're monotonous, and they don't bear 
thinking of. 

[The Ayah, entering by door, right, brings Lu- 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 49 

CILIA a shawl, which the Raja places on her shoul- 
ders.^ 

LUCILLA 
What an exquisite shawl ! 

Raja 

And most becoming — don't you think so, Doctor? 
[Traherne is gazing at Lucilla.] My Mistress of the 
Robes has chosen well! [He makes a motion of noise- 
less applause to the Ayah, who grins and exit, right.] 

Lucilla 
Why won't the stars bear thinking of. Raja? 

Raja 
Well, dear lady, don't you think they're rather osten- 
tatious? / was guilty of a little showing-off today, when 
I played that foolish trick with my regular troops. But 
think of the Maharaja up yonder [pointing upwards] 
who night after night whistles up his glittering legions, 
and puts them through their deadly punctual drill, as 
much as to say " See what a devil of a fellow / am! " 
Do you think it quite in good taste. Madam? 

Traherne 
[Laughing.] I'm afraid you're jealous, Raja. You 
don't like having to play second fiddle to a still more ab- 
solute ruler. 

Raja 

Perhaps you're right, Doctor — perhaps it's partly 
that. But there's something more to it. I can't help re- 
senting — [To Crespin to whom a servant is offering 
liqueurs.] Let me recommend the kiimmel. Major. I 
think you'll find it excellent. 



50 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

Traherne 
What is it you resent? 

Raja 
Oh, the respect paid to mere size — to the immensity, 
as they call it, of the universe. Are we to worship a god 
because he's big? 

Traherne 
If you resent his bigness, what do you say to his little- 
ness? The microscope, you know, reveals him no less 
than the telescope. 

Raja 
And reveals him in the form of death-dealing specks of 
matter, which you, I understand, Doctor, are impiously 
proposing to exterminate. 

Traherne 
I am trying to marshal the life-saving against the 
death-dealing powers. 

Raja 

To marshal God's right hand against his left, eh? or 
vice versa? But I admit you have the pull of the astron- 
omers, in so far as you deal in life, not in dead mechan- 
ism. [Killing a gnat on the back of his hand.] This 
mosquito that I have just killed — I am glad to see you 
smoke, Madam: it helps to keep them off — this mos- 
quito, or any smallest thing that has life in it, is to me 
far more admirable than a whole lifeless universe. What 
do you say. Major? 

Crespin 
[Smoking a cigar.] I say. Raja, that if you'll tell that 
fellow to give me another glass of kiimmel, I'll let you 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 51 

have your own way about the universe. [The Raja says 
a word to one of the servants, who refills Crespin's 
glass.] 

LUCILLA 

But what if the mechanism, as you call it, isn't dead? 
What if the stars are swarming with life? 

Traherne 
Yes — suppose there are planets, which of course we 
can't see, circling round each of the great suns we d o 
see? And suppose they are all inhabited? 

Raja 
I'd rather not suppose it. Isn't one inhabited world 
bad enough? Do we want it multiplied by millions? 

LuciLLA 
Haven't you just been telling us that a living gnat is 
more wonderful than a dead universe? 

Raja 

Wonderful ? Yes, by all means — wonderful as a de- 
vice for torturing and being tortured. Oh, I'm neither a 
saint nor an ascetic — I take life as I find it — I am tor- 
tured and I torture. But there's one thing I'm really 
proud of — I'm proud to belong to the race of the Bud- 
dha, who first found out that life was a colossal blunder. 

Lucilla 
[In a loiv voice.] Should you like the sky to be star- 
less ? That seems to me — forgive me. Prince — the 
last word of impiety. 

Raja 
Possibly, Madam. How my esteemed fellow-creatures 
were ever bluffed into piety is a mystery to me. Not that 



52 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

I'm complaining. If men could not be bluffed by the 
Raja above, much less would they be bluffed by us Rajas 
below. And though life is a contemptible business, I 
don't deny that power is the best part of it. 

Traherne 
In short, your Highness is a Superman. 

Raja 
Ah, you read Nietzsche? Yes, if I weren't of the 
kindred of the Buddha, I should like to be of the race of 
that great man. 

[The servants have now all withdrawn.] 

LUCILLA 

[Looking oiU.] There is the moon rising over the 
snowfields. I hope you wouldn't banish her from the 
heavens ? 

Raja 
Oh no — I like her silly, good-natured face. And 
she's useful to lovers and brigands and other lawless vag- 
abonds, with whom I have great sympathy. Besides, 
I don't know that she's so silly either. She seems to be 
for ever raising her eyebrows in mild astonishment at 
human folly. 

Crespin 
All this is out of my depth, your Highness. We've 
had a rather fatiguing day. Mightn't we — ? 

Raja 

To be sure. I only waited till the servants had gone. 
Now, are you all quite comfortable? 

LUCILLA 

Quite. 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 53 

Traherne 
Perfectly, thank you. 

Crespin 
Perfectly. 

Raja 
[Smoking a cigar, and standing with his back to the 
fire.] Then we'll go into committee upon your position 
here. 

Crespin 
If you please, sir. 

Raja 
I'm afraid you may find it rather disagreeable. 

Crespin 
Conimunications bad, eh? We have a difficult journey 
before us? 

Raja 
A long journey, I fear — yet not precisely difficult. 

Crespin 
It surely can't be so very far, since you had heard of 
the sentence passed on those assassins. 

Raja 
I am glad, Major, that you have so tactfully spared me 
the pain of re-opening that subject. We should have had 
to come to it, sooner or later. [An embarrassed pause.] 

Traherne 
When your Highness said they were your brothers, you 
were of course speaking figuratively. You meant your 
tribesmen ? 



54 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

Raja 
Not at all. They are sons of my father — not of my 
mother. 

LUCILLA 

And we intrude upon you at such a time! How 
dreadful ! 

Raja 

Oh, pray don't apologize. Believe me, your arrival 
has given great satisfaction. 

Traherne 
How do you mean? 

Raja 
I'll explain presently. But first — 

Crespin 
[Interrupting.] First let us understand each other. 
You surely can't approve of this abominable crime? 

Raja 
My brothers are fanatics, and there is no fanaticism in 
me. 

LUCILLA 
How do they come to be so different from you? 

Raja 
That is just what I was going to tell you. I was my 
father's eldest son, by his favorite wife. Through my 
mother's influence (my poor mother — how I loved 
her!) I was sent to Europe. My education was wholly 
European. I shed all my prejudices. I became the 
open-minded citizen of the world whom I hope you rec- 
ognize in me. My brothers, on the other hand, turned 
to India for their culture. The religion of our people 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 55 

has always been a primitive idolatry. My brothers na- 
turally fell in with adherents of the same superstition, 
and they worked each other up to a high pitch of frenzy 
against the European exploitation of Asia. 

Traherne 
Had you no restraining influence upon them? 

Raja 
Of course I might have imprisoned them — or had 
them strangled — the traditional form of argument in 
our family. But why should I? As I said, I have no 
prejudices — least of all in favour of the British raj. 
We are of Indian race, though long severed from the 
Motherland — and I do not love her tyrants. 

Crespin 
[Who has had quite enough to drink.] In short, sir, 
you defend this devilish murder? 

Raja 
Oh no — I think it foolish and futile. But there is a 
romantic as well as a practical side to my nature, and, 
from the romantic point of view, I rather admire it. 

Crespin 
[Rising.] Then, sir, the less we intrude on your hos- 
pitality the better. If you will be good enough to fur- 
nish us with transport tomorrow morning — 

Raja 
That is just where the diflSculty arises — 

Crespin 
No transport, hey? 



56 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

Raja 
Materially it might be managed; but morally I fear it 
is — excuse the colloquialism, Madam — no go. 

Crespin 
What the devil do you mean, sir — ? 

LUCILLA 

[Trying to cover his bluster.] Will your Highness be 
good enough to explain? 

Raja 
I mentioned that the religion of my people is a primi- 
tive superstition? Well, since the news has spread that 
three Feringhis have dropped from the skies precisely at 
the time when three princes of the royal house are threat- 
ened with death at the hands of the Feringhi government, 

— and dropped, moreover, in the precincts of a temple 

— my subjects have got it into their heads that you have 
been personally conducted hither by the Goddess whom 
they especially worship. 

LUCILLA 

The Goddess — ? 

Raja 

[Turning to the statuette.] Here is her portrait on the 
mantelpiece — much admired by connoisseurs. 
[LuciLLA cannot repress a shudder.] 

Raja 
I need not say that I am far from sharing the popular 
illusion. Your arrival is of course the merest coinci- 
dence — for me, a charming coincidence. But my peo- 
ple hold unphilosophic views. I understand that even in 
England the vulgar are apt to see the Finger of Provi- 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 57 

dence in particularly fortunate — or unfortunate — oc- 
currences. 

Crespin 
Then the upshot of all this palaver is that you propose 
to hold us as hostages, to exchange for your brothers? 

Raja 

That is not precisely the idea, my dear sir. My theo- 
logians do not hold that an exchange is what the God- 
dess decrees. Nor, to be quite frank, would it altogether 
suit my book. 

LuciLLA 

Not to get your brothers back again? 

Raja 
You may have noted in history, Madam, that family 
affection is seldom the strong point of Princes. Is it 
not Pope who remarks on their lack of enthusiasm for " a 
brother near the throne"? My sons are mere children, 
and were I to die — we are all mortal — there might 
be trouble about the succession. In our family, uncles 
seldom love nephews. 

LUCILLA 

So you would raise no finger to save your brothers? 

Raja 

That is not my only reason. Supposing it possible 
that I could bully the Government of India into giving 
up my relatives, do you think it would sit calmly down 
under the humiliation? No, no, dear lady. It might 
wait a few years to find some decent pretext, but assur- 
edly we should have a punitive expedition. It would 
cost thousands of lives and millions of money, but what 
would that matter? Prestige would be restored, and I 



58 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

should end my days in a maisonette in Petrograd. It 
wouldn't suit me at all. Hitherto I have escaped the 
notice of your Government by a policy of masterly inac- 
tivity, and I propose to adhere to that policy. 

Crespin 
Then I don't see how — 

Traherne 
[Simultaneously.] Surely you don't mean — ? 

Raja 
We are approaching the crux of the matter — a point 
which I fear you may have some difficulty in appreciat- 
ing. I would beg you to remember that, though I am 
what is commonly called an autocrat, there is no such 
thing under the sun as real despotism. All government 
is government by consent of the people. It is very 
stupid of them to consent — but they do. I have 
studied the question — I took a pretty good degree at 
Cambridge, in Moral and Political Science — and I as- 
sure you that, though I have absolute power of life and 
death over my subjects, it is only their acquiescence that 
gives me that power. If I defied their prejudices or 
their passions, they could upset my throne tomorrow. 

Crespin 
[Angrily.] Will you be so kind as to come to the 
point, sir? 

Raja 
Gently, Major! We shall reach it soon enough. [To 
LuciLLA.] Please remember, too, Madam, that an autoc- 
racy is generally a theocracy to boot, and mine is a case 
in point. I am a slave to theology. The clerical party 
can do what it pleases with me, for there is no other 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 59 

party to oppose it. True, I am my own Archbishop of 
Canterbury — but " I have a partner : Mr. Jorkins " — I 
have a terribly exacting Archbishop of York. I fear I 
may have to introduce you to him tomorrow. 

LuciLLA 
You are torturing us, your Highness. Like my hus- 
band, I beg you to come to the point. 

Raja 

The point is, dear lady, that the theology on which, as 
I say, my whole power is founded, has not yet emerged 
from the Mosaic stage of development: it demands an 
eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth — 

[A long pause.] 
a life for a life. 

[Another pause.] 

Traherne 
You mean to say — 

Raja 
Unfortunately, I do. 

LuciLLA 
You would kill us — ? 

Raja 

Not I, Madam — the clerical party. And only if my 
brothers are executed. If not, I will merely demand 
your word of honour that what has passed between us 
shall never be mentioned to any human soul — and you 
shall go free. 

Crespin 

But if your brother assassins are hanged — as assur- 
edly they will be — you will put to death in cold blood — 



60 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

Raja 

[Interrupting.] Oh, not in cold blood, Major. There 
is nothing cold-blooded about the clerical party when 
" white goats," as their phrase goes, are to be sacrificed 
to the Goddess. 

Traherne 

Does your Goddess demand the life of a woman? 

Raja 
Well, on that point she might not be too exacting. 
"On trouve avec le Ciel des accommodements." If 
Madam would be so gracious as to favour me with her 
— society — 

[LuciLLA after gazing at him for a moment 
speechless, realizes his meaning and springs up with 
a cry of rage and shame.] 

Traherne 
Scoundrel ! 

Crespin 
[Draws his revolver.] Another word, and I shoot you 
like a dog! 

Raja 
Oh, no. Major — that wouldn't help a bit. You would 
only be torn to pieces instead of beheaded. Besides, I 
have had your teeth drawn. That precaution was taken 
while you were at your bath. 

Crespin 
[Examines his revolver and finds it empty.] Damna- 
tion! 

LUCILLA 
[Raising her head and addressing both men.] Prom- 
ise you won't leave me alone! If we must die, let me 
die first. 



Act II] THE GREEN GO DDESS 61 

Raja 
The order of the ceremony, Madam, will not be at these 
gentlemen's choice. [Lucilla makes, a gesture of de- 
spair.] But do not be alarmed. No constraint shall be 
put upon your inclinations. Dr. Traherne reproached 
me with lack of consideration for your sex, and I hinted 
that, if you so pleased, your sex should meet with every 
consideration. I gather that you do not so please? 
Well, I scarcely hoped you would — I do not press the 
point. None the less, the suggestion remains open. And 
now, I'm afraid I've been talking a great deal. You 
must be fatigued. 

[The Major-domo appears at the door, right, 
with a slip of paper on a salver. The Raja mo- 
tions him to advance, goes to meet him, takes the 
paper and looks at it.] 

Raja 

Ah, this is interesting! If you will wait a few min- 
utes, I may have some news for you. Excuse me. 
[Exit, right, followed by the Major-domo.] 
[The three stare at each other for a moment in 
speechless horror.] 

Lucilla 
And we were saved this morning — only for this! 

Traherne 
Courage! There must be some way out. 

Crespin 
The whole thing's a damned piece of bluff! Ha, ha, 
ha! The scoundrel almost took me in. 

Lucilla 
[Throwing herself down on the ottoman in a passion 



62 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

of tears.] My babies! Oh, my babies! Never to see 
them again ! To leave them all alone in the world ! My 
Ronny! My little Iris! What can we do? What can 
we do? Antony! Dr. Traherne! Think of something 
— something — 

Crespin 
Yes, yes, Lu — we'll think of something — 

Traherne 
There's that fellow Watkins — we might bribe him — 

LuciLLA 
Oh, offer him every penny we have in the world — 

Traherne 
I'm afraid he's a malicious scoundrel. He must have 
known what was hanging over our heads, and, looking 
back, I seem to see him gloating over it. 

LuciLLA 
Still — still — perhaps he can be bought. Antony ! 
Think of the children! Oh, do let us try. 

Crespin 
But even if he would, he couldn't guide us through the 
mountains. 

LuciLLA 

Oh, he could hire some one else. 

Traherne 
I don't believe we can possibly be so far from the 
frontier as he makes out. 

LuciLLA 
How far did he say? 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 63 

Traherne 
Three weeks' journey. Yet they know all about things 
that happened less than a week ago. 

{^Suddenly all the lights in the room go down very 
perceptibly. All look round in surprise.] 

LuciLLA 
What is that? [A sort of hissing and chittering sound 
is heard faintly but unmistakably.] What an odd 
sound! 

Traherne 
Major! Do you hear that! 

Crespin 
Do I hear it? I should say so! 

Traherne 
Wireless ! 

Crespin 
[Much excited.] Wireless, by Jupiter ! They're send- 
ing out a message! 

Traherne 
That accounts for it! They're in wireless communica- 
tion with India! 

Lucilla 
[To Traherne.] Antony knows all about wireless. 

Crespin 
I should rather think so! Wasn't it my job all through 
the war! If I could hear more distinctly now — and if 
they're transmitting in clear — I could read their mes- 
sage. 

Traherne 
That may be our salvation! 



64 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

Crespin 
If we could get control of the wireless for five minutes, 
and call up the aerodrome at Amil-Serai — 

LuciLLA 
What then? 

Crespin 
Why, we'd soon bring the Raja to his senses. 

LUCILIA 

[To Crespin.] Where do you suppose the installation 
is? 

Crespin 
Somewhere overhead I should say. 

Traherne 
We must go very cautiously. Major. We must on no 
account let the Raja suspect that we know anything about 
wireless telegraphy, else he'd take care we should never 
get near the installation. 

Crespin 
Right you are, Traherne — I'll lie very low. 

LuciLLA 
[Tearing off the shawl.] And how are we to behave 
to that horrible man? 

Crespin 
We must keep a stiff upper lip, and play the game. 

LuciLLA 
You mean pretend to take part in his ghastly comedy 
of hospitality and politeness? 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 65 

Traherne 
If you can, it would be wisest. His delight in show- 
ing off his European polish is all in our favour. But for 
that he might separate us and lock us up. We must 
avoid that at all costs. 

LUCILLA 

Oh, yes, yes — 

Crespin 
You've always had plenty of pluck, Lu — . Now's 
the time to show it. 

LuciLLA 

[Putting on the shawl again.] You can trust me. The 

thought of the children knocked me over at first; but 

I'm not afraid to die. [The chittering sound ceases, and 

the lights suddenly go up again.] The noise has stopped. 

Crespin 
Yes, they've left off transmitting, and ceased to draw 
on the electric current. 

Traherne 
He'll be back presently. Don't let us seem to be con- 
sulting. 

[Traherne seats himself in an easy chair. Lu- 
ciLLA sits on the ottoman. Crespin lights a cigar 
and takes the Raja's place before the fire.] 

Crespin 
Curse it! I can't remember the wave-length and the 
call for Amil-Serai. I was constantly using it at one 
time. 

Traherne 
It'll come back to you. 



66 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

Crespin 
I pray to the Lord it may! 
[The Raja enters, right.] 

Raja 
I promised you news, and it has come. 

Crespin 
What news? 

Raja 

My brothers' execution is fixed for the day after to- 
morrow. 

LUCILLA 

Then the day after tomorrow — ? 

Raja 

Yes — at sunset. [A pause.] But meanwhile I hope 
you will regard my poor house as your own. This is 
Liberty Hall. My tennis courts, my billiard-room, my 
library are all at your disposal. I should not advise you 
to pass the palace gates — it would not be safe, for popu- 
lar feeling, I must warn you, runs very high. Besides, 
where could you go? There are three hundred miles of 
almost impassable country between you and the nearest 
British post. 

Traherne 
In that case. Prince, how do you communicate with 
India? How has this news reached you? 

Raja 
Does that puzzle you? 

Traherne 
Naturally. 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 67 

Raja 
You don't guess? 

Traherne 
We have been trying to. The only thing we could 
think of was that you must be in wireless communication. 

Raja 
You observed nothing to confirm the idea? 

Traherne 
Why, no. 

Raja 
Did you not notice that the lights suddenly went down? 

Traherne 
Yes, and at the same time we heard a peculiar hissing 
sound. 

Raja 
None of you knew what it meant? 

Traherne 

No. 

Raja 
Then you have no knowledge of wireless telegraphy? 

Traherne 
None. 

Raja 
I may tell you, then, that that hissing i s the sound of 
wireless transmission, I am in communication with 
India. 

Traherne 
[To the others.] You see, I was right. 



68 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act II 

Crespin 
You have a wireless expert here then? 

Raja 
Watkins, — that invaluable fellow — he is my opera- 
tor. 

Traherne 
And with whom do you communicate? 

Raja 
Do you think that quite a fair question, Doctor? 
Does it show your usual tact? I have my agents — I 
can say no more. [Pause.] Shall I ring for the ayah, 
Madam, to see you to your room? 

LUCILLA 

If you please. [As he has his finger on the bell, she 
says] No; stay a moment. [Rises and advances 
towards him.] Prince, I have two children. If it 
weren't for them, don't imagine that any of us would 
beg a favour at your hands. But for their sakes won't 
you instruct your agent to communicate with Simla and 
try to bring about an exchange — your brothers' lives for 
ours? 

Raja 
I am sorry. Madam, but I have already told you why 
that is impossible. Even if your Government agreed, it 
would assuredly take revenge on me for having extorted 
such a concession. No whisper of your presence here 
must ever reach India, or — again forgive the vulgar- 
ism — my goose is cooked. 

LUCILLA 

The thought of my children does not move you? 



Act II] THE GREEN GODDESS 69 

Raja 
My brothers have children — does the thought of them 
move the Government of India? No, Madam, I am 
desolated to have to refuse you, but you must not ask for 
the impossible. [He presses the bell.] 

LuciLLA 
Does it not strike you that, if you drive us to despera- 
tion, we may find means of cheating your Goddess? 
What is to prevent me, for instance, from throwing myself 
from that loggia? 

Raja 
Nothing, dear lady, except that clinging to the known, 
and shrinking from the unknown, that all of us feel, even 
while we despise it. Besides, it would be foolishly pre- 
cipitate, in every sense of the word. While there is life 
there is hope. You can't read my mind. For aught you 
can tell, I may have no intention of proceeding to ex- 
tremities, and may only be playing a little joke upon 
you. I hope you have observed that I have a sense of 
humour. [The Ayah enters.] Ah, here is the ayah. 
Good night. Madam; sleep well. [Bows her to the door. 
Exit LuciLLA with Ayah.] Gentlemen, a whiskey and 
soda. No? Then good night, good night. [Exeunt 
Crespin and Traherne.] 

[The Raja takes from the table a powerful electric 
torch, and switches it on. Then he switches off the 
lights of the room, which is totally dark except for 
the now moonlit background. He goes up to the 
idol on the mantelpiece, throws the light of the 
torch upon it, and makes it an ironic salaam. Then 
he lights himself towards the door, left, as] 

THE CURTAIN FALLS 



ACT THIRD 

The Raja's Snuggery. An entirely European and mod- 
ern room; its comfort contrasting with the old- 
fashioned, comfortless splendour of the scene of 
Act IL 

A door in front, left, opens on the billiard-room ; another, 
a little further back, leads to the rest of the palace. 
A large and solid folding door in the back wall, 
centre. To the right, a large open window with a 
shallow balcony, which has the effect of being at a 
great height, and commands a view across the valley 
to the snow peaks beyond. 

On the right, near the window, a handsome pedestal 
ivriting table, with a large and heavy swivel chair 
behind it. Silver fittings on the table, all in perfect 
order. Close to the nearer end of the writing table, 
a revolving bookcase, containing the Encyclopcedia 
Britannica and other books of reference. On the 
top of it a tantalus with a syphon and glasses. 
Close up to the writing table, and about of equal 
length, a deeply upholstered green leather sofa. 
Further over towards the left, a small table with 
smoking appliances. On each side of the table a 
comfortable green leather arm-chair. No small 
chairs. Low bookcases, filled with serious-looking 
modern books, against the walls, wherever there is 
space for them. On the top of one of the bookcases 
a large bronze bust of Napoleon. A black and 
white portrait of Nietzsche on the wall, along with 
some sporting prints. 

70 



Act III] THE GREEN GODD ESS 71 

Crespin discovered alone, wandering around the room, 
nervous and irritable. He tries the door at back; 
it is locked. Opens the door down left, and doses it, 
muttering " Billiards, begad! " Crosses to the ivrit- 
ing table, examines the articles upon it, and picks 
up a paper which proves to be " La Vie Paris ienne.'' 
He throws it down with the comment, "French 
muck! " Notices a paper on the couch, picks it up 
and says with disgust, " Russian." Then he comes 
down to the revolving bookcase, glances at the books 
and spins it angrily. After a moment's hesitation, 
he pours some ivhiskey into a tumbler and fills it 
from the syphon. Is on the point of drinking, but 
hesitates, then says, ''No!'' Goes to the balcony 
and throws out the contents of the glass. As he is 
setting the glass down, Traherne enters, second 
door left, ushered in by a Soldier, who salutes 
and exit. 

Crespin 
There! You lliink you've caught me! 

Traherne 
Caught you? 

Crespin 
Lushing. But I haven't been. I threw the stuff out of 
the window. For Lucilla's sake, I must keep all my wits 
about me. 

Traherne 
Yes, if we can all do that, we may pull through yet. 

Crespin 
Did you sleep? 

Traherne 
Not a wink. And you? 



72 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

Crespin 
Dozed and woke again fifteen times in a minute. A 
hellish night. 

Traherne 
Have you news of Mrs. Crespin? 

Crespin 
She sent me this chit. [Hands him a scrap of paper.] 

Traherne 
[Reads.] "Have slept and am feeling better. Keep 
the flag flying." What pluck she has! 

Crespin 
Yes, she's game — always was. 

Traherne 
She reminds me of the women in the French Revolu- 
tion. We might all be in the Conciergerie, waiting to 
hear the tumbrils. 

Crespin 
It would be more endurable if we were in prison. 
It's this appearance of freedom — the scoundrel's damned 
airs of politeness and hospitality — that makes the thing 
such a nightmare. [Mechanically mixing himself a 
whiskey and soda.] Do you believe we're really awake, 
Traherne? If I were alone, I'd think the whole thing 
was a blasted nightmare; but Lucilla and you seem to 
be dreaming it too. [Raising the glass to his lips, he 
remembers and puts it down again, saying:] Damn! 

Traherne 
Some day we may look back upon it as on a bad 
dream. 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDESS 73 

Crespin 
He does you well, curse him! They served me a most 
dainty chota hazri this morning, and with it a glass 
of rare old fine champagne. 

Traherne 
[Pointing to the door, down left.] Where does that 
door lead? 

Crespin 
To a billiard-room. Billiards! Ha, ha! 

Traherne 
[At door, centre.] And this one? 

Crespin 
I don't know. It's locked — and a very solid door, 
too. 

Traherne 
Do you know what I think? 

Crespin 
Yes, and I agree with you. 

Traherne 
Opening off the fellow's own sanctum — 

Crespin 
It's probably the wireless room. [They exchange 
s ign ificant glances . ] 

Traherne 
[Indicating the window.] And what's out here? 

Crespin 
Take a look. 



74 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

Traherne 
[Looking over.] A sheer drop of a hundred feet. 

Crespin 
And a dry torrent below. How if we were to pick up 
our host, Traherne, and gently drop him on those razor- 
edged rocks? 

Traherne 
[Shrugs his shoulders.] As he said last night, they'd 
only tear us to pieces the quicker. 

Crespin 
If it weren't for Lucilla, I'm damned if I wouldn't do 
it all the same. 

[The Raja enters, second door left, dressed in 
spick-and-span up-to-date riding attire. He crosses 
to the writing table.] 

Raja 
Good morning, Major; good morning. Doctor. How 
do you like my snuggery? I hope you have slept well? 
[They make no answer.] No? Ah, perhaps you find 
this altitude trying? Never mind. We have methods 
of dealing with insomnia. 

Crespin 
Come now, Raja, a joke's a joke, but this cat-and- 
mouse business gets on one's nerves. Make arrange- 
ments to send us back to the nearest British outpost, and 
we'll give you our Bible oath to say nothing about the — 
pleasantry you've played on us. 

Raja 

Send you back, my dear Major? I assure you, if I 

were ever so willing, it would be as much as my place 

is worth. You don't know how my faithful subjects are 

looking forward to tomorrow's ceremony. If I tried to 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDESS 75 

cancel it, there would be a revolution. You must be 
reasonable, my dear sir. 

Crespin 
Do you think we would truckle to you, damn you, if 
it weren't for my wife's sake? But for her we'll make 
any concession — promise you anything. 

Raja 
What can you promise that is worth a brass farthing 
to me? [With sudden ferocity.] No. Asia has a long 
score against you swaggering, blustering, whey-faced 
lords of creation, and, by all the gods! I mean to see 
some of it paid tomorrow! [Resuming his suave 
manner.] But in the meantime there is no reason why 
we shouldn't behave like civilized beings. How would 
you like to pass the morning? I'm sorry I can't offer 
you any shooting. I mustn't lead you into temptation. 
What do you say to billiards? It soothes the nerves. 
[Opening the door.] Here is the billiard-room. I have 
a little business to attend to, but I'll join you presently. 

Crespin 
Of all the infernal purring devils — ! 

Raja 

Dignity, Major, dignity! 

[Traherne interposes and shepherds the Major 
off. The click of billiard-balls is presently heard. 
The Raja seats himself at the writing table and 
presses a bell. Then he takes up a pad of paper 
and pencil, and taps his teeth, cogitating what to 
write. In a few moments Watkins enters.] 

Watkins 
Your Highness rang? 



76 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

Raja 
Come in, Watkins. Just close the billiard-room door, 
will you? [Watkins looks into the billiard-room and 
then closes the door.] 

Watkins 
They're good pluck'd uns, sir; I will say that. 

Raja 
Yes, there's some satisfaction in handling them. I'm 
glad they're not abject — it would quite spoil the sport. 

Watkins 
Quite so, sir. 

Raja 

But it has occurred to me, Watkins, that perhaps it's 
not quite safe to have them so near the wireless room. 
Their one chance would be to get into communication 
with India. They appeared last night to know nothing 
about the wireless, but I have my doubts. Tell me, 
Watkins — have they made any attempt to bribe you? 

Watkins 
Not yet, sir. 

Raja 
Ha, that looks bad. It looks as if they had something 
else up their sleeves, and were leaving bribery to the last 
resort. I want to test their ignorance of wireless. I 
want you, in their presence, to send out some message 
that is bound to startle or enrage them, and see if they 
show any sign of understanding it. 

Watkins 
[Grinning.] That's a notion, sir. 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDESS 77 

Raja 
But I can't think of a message, 

[The Ayah opens the second door, left, ushers in 
LuciLLA, and exit. Lucilla has resumed her 
travelling dress. The Raja has been examining 
the lock of the wireless room, and is thus partly 
concealed by the entrance door as it opens, so that 
Lucilla is well into the room before she observes 
him. He comes forward.] 

Raja 
Ah, Mrs. Crespin, I was just thinking of you. Think 
of angels and you hear their wings. Won't you sit 
down? 

Lucilla 
[Ignoring his invitation.] I thought my husband was 
here. 

Raja 
He's not far off. [To Watkins, pointing to the centre 
door.] Just wait in there for a few minutes; I may have 
instructions for you. 

[Watkins produces a key-ring, selects a key, un- 
locks the door of the wireless-room, and goes in, 
closing the door behind him.] 

Raja 

[To Lucilla, who has stood motionless.] Do, pray, 
sit down. I want so much to have a chat with you. 
[Lucilla seats herself, in silence.] I hope you had 
everything you required? 

Lucilla 
Everything. 

Raja 
The ayah? 



78 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

LUCILLA 

Was most attentive. 

Raja 
And you slept — ? 

LUCILLA 
More or less. 

Raja 
More rather than less, if one may judge by your looks. 

LuciLLA 
Does it matter? 

Raja 
What can matter more than the looks of a beautiful 
woman? 

LUCILLA 

[Listening.] What's that? 

Raja 
The click of billiard-balls. Your husband and Dr. 
Traherne are passing the time. 

LUCILLA 

[Rising.} If you'll excuse me, I'll join them. 

Raja 
Oh, pray spare me a few moments. I want to speak 
to you seriously. 

Lucilla 
[Sitting down again.] Well — I am listening. 

Raja 
You are very curt, Mrs. Crespin. I'm afraid you bear 
me malice, — you hold me responsible for the doubtless 
trying situation in which you find yourself. 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDESS 79 

LUCILLA 

Who else is responsible? 

Raja 

Who? Why chance, fate, the gods, Providence — 
whoever, or whatever, pulls the strings of this unaccount- 
able puppet-show. Did / bring you here? Did / con- 
jure up the fog? Could / have prevented your dropping 
from the skies? And when once you had set foot in the 
Goddess's precinct, it was utterly out of my power to 
save you — at any rate the men of your party. If I 
raised a finger to thwart the Goddess, it would be the end 
of my rule — perhaps of my life. 

LUCILLA 

You know that is not true. You could easily smuggle 
us away, and then face the people out. What about 
your troops? 

Raja 

A handful, dear lady — a toy army. It amuses me 
to play at soldiers. They could do nothing against 
priests and people, even if they were to be depended 
upon. And they, too, worship the Goddess. 

LUCILLA 

What you really mean. Raja, is that you dare not risk 
it — you haven't the courage. 

Raja 

You take a mean advantaare. Madam. You abuse the 



fci'^' 



privilege of your sex in order to taunt me with cowardice. 

LuciLLA 
Let us say, then, that you haven't the will to save us. 



80 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

Raja 
Reflect one moment, Madam — why should I have 
the will, at the risk of all I possess, to save Major Crespin 
and Dr. Traherne? Major Crespin is your husband — 
does that recommend him to me? Forgive me if I 
venture to guess that it doesn't greatly recommend him 
to y o u. He is an only too typical specimen of a breed 
I detest: pigheaded, bullnecked, blustering, overbearing. 
Dr. Traherne is an agreeable man enough — I daresay a 
man of genius — 

LUCILLA 

If you kill him — if you cut short his work — you kill 
millions of your own race, whom he would have saved. 

Raja 
I don't know that I care very much about the millions 
you speak of. Life is a weed that grows again as fast as 
death mows it down. At all events, he is an English- 
man, a Feringhi — and, may I add, without indiscretion, 
that the interest you take in him — oh, the merest 
friendly interest, I am sure — does not endear him to 
me. One is, after all, a man, and the favour shown to 
another man by a beautiful woman — [Lucilla rises 
and moves toward the billiard-room. The Raja inter- 
poses.] Please, please, Mrs. Crespin, bear with me if I 
transgress your Western conventions. Can I help being 
an Oriental? Believe me, I mean no harm; I wanted 
to talk to you about — ^ 

Lucilla 
Well? 

Raja 
You spoke last night of — your children. [LuciLLA 
turns away, her self-control wavering.] I think you 
said — a boy and a little girl. 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDESS 81 

LUCILLA 
[Throws herself down on the couch in a fit of weep- 
ing.] My babies, my babies! /■ ^ 

Raja 
I feel for you, Mrs. Crespin, I do indeed. I would do 
anything — 

LUCILLA 

[Looking up, vehemently.] Prince, if I write them a 
letter of farewell, will you give me your word of honour 
that it shall reach them? 

Raja 
Ah, there. Madam, you must pardon me! I have 
already said that the last thing I desire is to attract the 
attention of the Government of India. 

LUCILLA 

I will say nothing to show where I am, or what has 
befallen me. You shall read it yourself. 

Raja 
An ingenious idea! You would have it come flut- 
tering down out of the blue upon your children's heads, 
like a message from a Mahatma. But, the strength of my 
position, you see, is that no one will ever know what 
has become of you. You will simply disappear in the 
uncharted sea of the Himalayas, as a ship sinks with all 
hands in the ocean. If I permitted any word from you 
to reach India, the detective instinct, so deeply implanted 
in your race, would be awakened, and the Himalayas 
would be combed out with a tooth-comb. No, Madam, 
I cannot risk it. 

LUCILLA 

[Her calm recovered.] Cannot? You dare not! 



82 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

But you can and ,dare kill defenceless men and women. 
Raja, you are a pitiful coward. 

Raja 
Forgive me if I smile at your tactics. You want to 
goad me into chivalry. If every man were a coward 
who took life without risking his own, where would your 
British sportsmen be? 

LuciLLA 
I beg your pardon — a savage is not necessarily a 
coward. And now let me go to my husband. 

Raja 
Not yet, Mrs. Crespin — one more word. You are a 
brave woman, and I sincerely admire you — 

LUCILLA 

Please — please — 

Raja 

Listen to me. It will be worth your while. I could 
not undertake to send a letter to your children — but it 
would be very easy for me to have them carried off and 
brought to you here. 

LUCILLA 

[Starts, and faces him.] What do you mean? 

Raja 
I mean that, in less than a month, you may have your 
children in your arms, uninjured, unsuspecting, happy — 
if — 

LUCILLA 
If? 

Raja 
If — oh, in your own time, of your own free will — 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDESS 83 

you will accept the homage it would be my privilege to 
offer you. 

LUCILLA 

That! 

Raja 
You have the courage to die, dear lady — why not have 
the courage to live? 

[Pause.] 

You believe, I daresay, that tomorrow, when the ordeal 
is over, you will awaken in a new life, and that there your 
children will rejoin you. Suppose it were so: suppose 
that in forty — fifty — sixty years, they passed over 
to you: would they be your children? Can God Him- 
self give you back their childhood? What I offer you is 
a new life, not problematical, but assured; a new life, 
without passing through the shadow of death; a future 
utterly cut off from the past, except that your children 
will be with you, not as vague shades, but living and 
loving. They must be quite young; they would soon 
forget all that had gone before. They would grow to 
manhood and womanhood under your eyes; and ulti- 
mately, perhaps, when the whole story was forgotten, 
you might, if you wished it, return with them to what 
you call civilization. 

And meanwhile, you are only on the threshold of the 
best years of your life. You would pass them, not as a 
memsahib in a paltry Indian cantonment, but as the 
absolute queen of an absolute king. I do not talk to 
you of romantic love. I respect you too much to think 
you accessible to silly sentiment. But that is just it: 
I respect as much as I admire you; and I have never 
pretended to respect any other woman. Therefore I 
say you should be my first and only Queen. Your son, 



84 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

if you gave me one, should be the prince of princes; my 
other sons should all bow down to him and serve him. 
For, though I hate the arrogance of Europe, I believe that 
from a blending of the flower of the East with the flower 
of the West, the man of the future — the Superman — 
may be born. 

[LuciLLA has sat motionless through all this 
speech, her elbows on the end of the couch, twisting 
her handkerchief in her hands and gazing straight 
in front of her. There is now a perceptible pause 
before she speaks in a toneless voice.] 

LUCILLA 

Is that all? Have you quite done? 

Raja 
I beg you to answer. 

LUCILLA 

I can't answer the greater part of what you have been 
saying, for I have not heard it; at least I have not 
understood it. All I have heard is " In less than a 
month you may have your children in your arms," and 
then again, " Can God Himself give you back their child- 
hood? " These words have kept hammering at my brain 
till — [Showing her handkerchief.] you see — I have bit 
my lip to keep from shrieking aloud. I think the devil 
must have put them in your mouth — 

Raja 
Pooh! You don't believe in these old bugbears. 

LUCILLA 

Perhaps not. But there is such a thing as diabolical 
temptation, and you have stumbled upon the secret of it. 



II 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDESS 85 

Raja 

Stumbled ! 

LUCILLA 
Mastered the art of it, if you like — but not in your 
long harangue. All I can think of is, " Can God Him- 
self give you back their childhood? " and " In a month 
you may have them in your arms." 

Raja 

[Eagerly.] Yes, yes — think of that. In three or 
four weeks you may have your little ones — 

LUCILLA 

[Rising and interrupting him vehemently.] Yes — but 
on what conditions? That I should desert my husband 
and my friend — should let them go alone to their 
death — should cower in some back room of this mur- 
derous house of yours, listening to the ticking of the 
clock, and thinking, " Now — now — the stroke has 
fallen " — stopping my ears so as not to hear the yells 
of your bloodthirsty savages — and yet, perhaps, hetiring 
nothing else to my dying day. No, prince! — you said 
something about not passing through the shadow of 
death; but if I did this I should not pass through it, but 
live in it, and bring my children into it as well. What 
would be the good of having them in my arms if I could 
not look them in the face? [She passes to the billiard- 
room door.] 

Raja 
That is your answer? 

LuciLLA 
The only possible answer. [She enters the billiard- 
room and closes the door.] 



86 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

Raja 
[Looking after her, to himself:] But not the last 
word, my lady! 

[He sits at the writing table, and begins to write, 
at the same time calling, not very loudly, " Wat- 
kins! " The valet immediately appears, centre.] 

Watkins 
Yessir? 

Raja 
[Tearing a sheet off the pad and handing it to him.] 
Read that. 

Watkins 
A message to be sent out, sir? 

Raja 
Yes. 

Watkins 
[Reading.] "The lady has come to terms. She will 
enter His Highness's household." Quite so, sir. What 
suite will she occupy? 

Raja 

My innocent Vatkins! Do you think it's true? What 
have I to do with a stuck-up Englishwoman? It's only a 
bait for the Feringhis. You shall send it out in their 
hearing, and if either of them can read the Morse code, 
the devil's in it if he doesn't give himself away. 

Watkins 
Beg pardon, sir; I didn't quite catch on. 

Raja 

If they move an eyelash I'll take care they never see 
the inside of this room again. 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDESS 87 

Watkins 
Am I to send this to India, sir? 

Raja 
To anywhere or nowhere. Reduce the current, so that 
no one can pick it up. So long as it's heard in this 
room, that's all I want. 

Watkins 
But when am I to send it, sir? 

Raja 
Listen. I'll get them in here on the pretext of a little 
wireless demonstration, and then I'll tell you to send out 
an order to Tashkent for champagne. That'll be your 
cue. Go ahead — and send slowly. 

Watkins 
Shall I ask you whether I'm to code it, sir? 

Raja 

You may as well. It'll give artistic finish to the 
thing. 

Watkins 

Very good. Your 'Ighness. But afterwards, — if, as 
you was saying, they was to try to corrupt me, sir — 

Raja 

Corrupt you? That would be painting the lily with 
a vengeance. 

Watkins 

[With a touch of annoyance.] Suppose they tries to 
get at me, sir — -what are your instructions? 

Raja 
How do you mean? 



88 THE GPxEEN GODDESS [Act III 

Watkins 
Shall I let on to take the bait? 

Raja 
You may do exactly as you please. I have the most 
implict confidence in you, Watkins. 

Watkins 
You are very good, sir. 

Raja 
I know that anything they can offer you would have to 
be paid either in England or in India, and that you 
daren't show your nose in either country. You have a 
very comfortable job here — 

Watkins 
My grateful thanks to you, sir. 

Raja 

And you don't want to give the hangman a job, either 
in Lahore or in London. 

Watkins 
The case in a nutshell, sir. But I thought if I was to 
pretend to send a message for them, it might keep them 
quiet-like. 

Raja 
Very true, Watkins. It would not only keep them 
quiet, but the illusion of security would raise their spirits, 
which would be a humane action. I am always on the 
side of humanity. 

Watkins 
Just so. sir. Then I'll humour them. 



Act III ] THE GREEN GODDESS 89 

Raja 
Yes, if they want you to send a message. If they try to 
"get at," not only you, but the instrument, call the 
guard and let me know at once. 

Watkins 
Certainly, sir. 

Raja 

Now open the door and stand by. You have the 
message? 

Watkins 
[Producing the slip from- his pocket, reads:] "The 
lady has come to terms. She — " 

Raja 

[Interrupting.] Yes, that's right. [^5 Watkins is 
opening the door.] Oh, look here — when you've fin- 
ished, you'd better lock the door, and say, " Any orders, 
sir?" If I say "No orders, Watkins," it'll mean I'm 
satisfied they don't understand. If I think they d o 
understand, I'll give you what orders I think necessary. 

Watkins 
Very good, sir. 

[He opens the folding doors wide, revealing a 
small room, in which is a wireless installation.] 

Raja 

[At billiard-room door.] Oh, Major, you were saying 
you had no experience of wireless. If you've finished 
your game, it might amuse you to see it at work. Wat- 
kins is just going to send out a message. Would Mrs. 
Crespin care to come? 



90 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

Crespin 
[At door.] Yes — why not? Will you come, 
Lucilla? 

[Crespin enters, followed by Lucilla and Tra- 
HERNE. The Raja eyes them closely so that 
they have no opportunity to make any sign to each 
other.] 

Raja 

This, you see, is the apparatus. All ready, Watkins? 
[To the others:] Won't you sit down? [To Wat- 
kins:] You have the order for Tashkent? 

Watkins 
[Producing paper.] Yes, Your Tghness; but I 
haven't coded it. 

Raja 
Oh, never mind; send it in clear. Even if some out- 
sider does pick it up, I daresay we can order three cases 
of champagne without causing international complica- 
tions. 

[Crespin and Traherne sit in the arm-chairs, 
left. Lucilla is about to sit on the couch, but seeing 
the Raja make a move to sit beside her, she passes 
behind the writing table and sits in the swivel chair. 
The Raja sits on the sofa. Watkins begins to 
transmit, — pauses.] 

Raja 
He's waiting for the reply signal. 
[A pause.] 

Crespin 
May I take one of your excellent cigars, Raja? 



Act III] THE GREEN GO DDESS 91 

Raja 

By all means. 

[Crespin lights a cigar. '\ 

Watkins 
I've got them. [Proceeds to send the message: " The 
lady has come to terms," etc.] 

Crespin 
[A moment after the transmission has begun, says in 
a low voice to the Raja;] May we speak? 

Raja 

Oh, yes — you won't be heard in Tashkent. 

Crespin 
[Holding out his cigarette case.] Have a cigarette, 
Traherne. 

Traherne 
Thanks. [He takes a cigarette. Crespin strikes a 
match and lights the cigarette, saying meanwhile:] 

Crespin 
Let us smoke and drink, for tomorrow we — [Blows 
out the match.] 

[Silence until the transmission ends.] 

Raja 
That's how it's done! 

Traherne 
How many words did he send? 

Raja 
What was it, Watkins? "Forward by tomorrow's 
caravan twelve cases champagne. Usual brand. Charge 
our account " ; was that it? 



92 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

Watkins 
That's right, sir. 

Raja 

Twelve words. 

Crespin 
And can they really make sense out of these fire- 
works? 

Raja 
I hope so — else we shall run short of champagne. 

Watkins 

[Locking the folding door.] Any orders, Your Tgh- 
ness? 

Raja 
No orders, Watkins. 

[^5 he is going out, Watkins meets at the door a 
Soldier, who says a few words to him.'] 

Watkins 
[Turning.] The Tgh Priest is waiting to see Your 
Tghness. 

Raja 
Oh, show him in. 

[Watkins ushers in the High Priest of the 
Goddess, and then exit. The High Priest's per- 
sonality is unmistakably sinister. The Raja, after 
a word of greeting, turns to the others.] 

Raja 
I mentioned my Archbishop of York. This is he. 
Allow me to introduce you. Your Grace, Mrs. Crespin — 
Major Crespin — Dr. Traherne. 

[The Priest, understanding the situation, makes 
a sort of contemptuous salaxtm.] 



Act III] THE GREEN GODD ESS 93 

The Archbishop's manners are not good. You will 
excuse him. He regards you, I regret to say, as unclean 
creatures, whose very presence means pollution. He 
would be a mine of information for an anthropologist. 

[He exchanges a few words with the Priest, and 
turns again to his guests.] 
His Grace reminds me of some arrangements for to- 
morrow's ceremony, which, as Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, I must attend to in person. You will excuse me 
for half an hour? Pray make yourselves at home. 
Tiffin at half past twelve. 

[He speaks a feiv words to the Priest, who replies 
in a sort of growl.] 
His Grace says au revoir — and so do I. 

[Exit, followed by the Priest. Both Traherne 
and LuciLLA are about to speak. Crespin motions 
them to be cautious. He goes to the billiard-room, 
opens the door, looks around and closes it again. 
LuciLLA examines the balcony. Traherne slips up 
to the centre door and noiselessly tests it.] 

Traherne 
[To Crespin.] What was the message? 

Crespin 
It said that the lady had accepted her life — on his 
terms. 

Traherne 
Oh ! — a trap for us. 

Crespin 
Yes. A put-up job. 

LuciLLA 
You gave no sign, Antony. I think he must have 
been reassured. 



94 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

Traherne 
Evidently ; or he wouldn't have left us here. 

Crespin 
What to do now? 

Traherne 
Can we break open the door? 

Crespin 
No good. It would make a noise. We'd be inter- 
rupted, and then it would be all up. 

Traherne 
Well, then, the next step is to try to bribe Watkins. 

Crespin 
I don't believe it's a bit of good. 

Traherne 
Nor I. The fellow's a thorough-paced scoundrel. 
But we might succeed, and if we don't even try they'll 
suspect that we're plotting something else. If we can 
convince them that we're at our wits' end, we've the better 
chance of taking them off their guard. 

LUCILLA 

Yes — you see that, Antony? 

Crespin 
Perhaps you're right. But, even if the damned scoun- 
drel can be bought, what good is it if I can't remember 
the wave-length and the call for Amil-Serai? 

LUCILLA 

You'll think of it all of a sudden. 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDESS 95 

Crespin 
Not if I keep racking my brains for it. If I could get 
my mind off it, the damned thing might come back 
to me. 

Traherne 
All the more reason for action. But first, we must 
settle what message to send if we get the chance. 

LUCILLA 

[Sits at writing-table.] Dictate — I'll write. 

Traherne 
What about this? "Major Crespin, wife, Traherne 
imprisoned, Rukh, Raja's palace, lives in danger." 

[LuciLLA writes on an envelope which she takes 
from the paper-case.] 

Crespin 
We want something more definite. 

LUCILLA 

How would this do? "Death threatened tomorrow 
evening. Rescue urgent." 

Traherne 
Excellent. 

[LuciLLA finishes the message, and hands it to 
Crespin.] 

Crespin 
[Reads.] "Major Crespin, wife, Traherne, im- 
prisoned, Rukh, Raja's palace. Death threatened tomor- 
row evening. Rescue urgent." [Takes the paper.] 
Right. I'll keep it ready. 

Traherne 
Now, how to get hold of Watkins? 



96 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

LUCILLA 

[At the table.] There's a bell here. Shall I try it? 

Traherne 
Hold on a moment. We have to decide what to do if 
he won't take money, and we have to use force in order 
to get his keys. 

Crespin 
[Looking around.] There's nothing here to knock him 
on the head with — not even a chair you can lift — 

Traherne 
Not a curtain cord to truss him up with — 

LUCILLA 
The first thing would be to gag him, wouldn't it? 
[Takes off her scarf.] Would this do for that? 

Traherne 
Capital! [Takes the scarf, ties a knot in it, and places 
it on the upper end of the sofa.] 

Crespin 
What about a billiard cue? 

Traherne 
If he saw it around he'd smell a rat. 

Crespin 
Then there's only one thing — 

Traherne 
What? [Crespin points to the balcony, and makes a 
significant gesture.] 

LuciLLA 
Oh! [Shrinks away from the window.] 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDESS 97 

Traherne 
I'm afraid it can't be helped. There's a drop of a 
good hundred feet. 

Crespin 
None too much for him. 

Traherne 
When he locked that door he put the key in his trousers 
pocket. We must remember to get it before — 

LUCILLA 

But if you kill him and still don't remember the call, 
we shall be no better off than we are now. 

Traherne 
We shall be no worse off. 

Crespin 
Better, by Jove! For if I can get three minutes at 
that instrument, the Raja can't tell whether we have 
communicated or not. [He takes up the glass of lohis- 
key-and-soda which he has poured out before.^ 

LUCILLA 

Oh, Antony! 

Crespin 
Don't be a fool, Lu. [Gulps down the drink, and says 
as he pours out more whiskey:] It's because I'm so un- 
naturally sober that my brain won't work. [Drinks the 
ivhiskey raw.] Now ring that bell. [Lucilla does so.] 
You do the talking, Traherne. The fellow's damned 
insolence gets on my nerves. 

Traherne 
All right. [Sits at the writing table.] 



98 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

Crespin 
Look out — 

[Enter Watkins, second door, left.] 

Watkins 
You rang, sir? [Standing by the door.] 

Traherne 
Yes, Watkins, we want a few words with you. Do you 
mind coming over here? We don't want to speak loud. 

Watkins 
There's no one understands English, sir. 

Traherne 
Please oblige me, all the same. 

Watkins 
[Coming forward.] Now, sir! 

Traherne 
I daresay you can guess what we want with you. 

Watkins 
I'm no 'and at guessin', sir. I'd rather you'd put it 
plain. 

Traherne 
Well, you know that we've fallen into the hands of 
bloodthirsty savages? You know what is proposed for 
tomorrow? 

Watkins 
I've 'eard as your numbers is up. 

Traherne 
You surely don't intend to stand by and see us mur- 
dered — three of your own people, and one of them a 
lady? 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDESS 99 

Watkins 
My own people, is it? And a 1 ady — ! 

LUCILLA 

A woman, then, Watkins. 

Watkins 

What has my own people ever done for me — or 

women either — that I should lose a cushy job and risk 

my neck for the sake of the three of you? I wouldn't 

do it for all your bloomin' England, I tell you straight. 

Crespin 
It's no good, Traherne. Come down to tin tacks. 

Traherne 
Only a sighting shot. Major. It was just possible we 
might have misread our man. 

Watkins 
You did if you took 'im for a V. C. 'ero wot 'ud lay 
down his life for England, 'ome and beauty. The first 
thing England ever done for me was to 'ave me sent to a 
reformatory for pinching a silver rattle off of a young 
haristocrat in a p'rambulator. That, and the likes of that, 
is wot I've got to thank England for. And why did I 
do it? Because my mother would have bashed my face 
in if I'd have come back empty-handed. That's wot 
'ome and beauty has meant for me. W'y should I care 
more for a woman being scragged than what I do for a 
man? 

Traherne 
Ah, yes, I quite see your point of view. But the ques- 
tion now is: What'll you t a k e to get us out of this? 



100 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

Watkins 
Get you out of this! If you was to offer me millions, 
'ow could I do that? 

Traherne 
By going into that room and sending this message 
through to the Amil-Serai aerodrome. 

[Crespin hands Watkins the message. He 
reads it through and places it on the table.] 

Watkins 
So that's the game, is it? 

Traherne 
That, as you say, is the game. 

Watkins 
You know what you're riskin'? 

Traherne 
What do you mean? 

Watkins 
W'y, if the Guv'nor suspected as you'd got a word 
through to India, ten to one he'd wipe you off the slate 
like that [snapping his fingers] without waiting for to- 
morrow. 

Crespin 
That makes no difference. We've got to face it. 

Traherne 
Come now! On your own showing, Mr. Watkins, 
loyalty to your master oughtn't to stand in your way. I 
don't suppose gratitude is one of your weaknesses. 

Watkins 
Gratitude! To 'im? What for? I'm not badly off 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDESS 101 

here, to be sure, but it's nothing to wot I does for 'im; 
and I 'ate 'im for 'is funny little ways. D'you think I 
don't see that he's always pulling my leg? 

Traherne 
Well, then, you won't mind selling him. We've only 
to settle the price. 

Watkins 
That's all very fine, sir; but what price 'ave you gents 
to offer? 

Traherne 
Nothing down — no spot cash — that's clear. You'll 
have to take our word for whatever bargain we come to. 

Watkins 
Your word! How do I know — ? 

Traherne 
Oh, our written word. We'll give it to you in writing. 

Watkins 
[After thinking for a jnoment.] If I was to 'elp you 
out, there must be no more fairy-tales about any of you 
'avin' seen me in India. 

Traherne 

All right. We accept your assurance that you never 
were there. 

Watkins 

And see here, Dr. Traherne — you know very well I 
couldn't stay here after I'd helped you to escape — 
leastways, if I stayed, it'd be in my grave. You'll 'ave 
to take me with you — and for that I can only have your 
word. Supposing you could get the message through, 
and the English was to come, no writing could bind you 
if you chose to leave me in the lurch. 



102 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

Traherne 
Quite true. I'm afraid you'll have to trust us for that. 
But I give you my word of honor that we would be as 
careful of your safety as if you were one of ourselves. 
I suppose you know that, strange as you may think it, 
there are people in the world that would rather die 
than break a solemn promise. 

Crespin 
Even to a hound like you, Watkins. 

Watkins 
I advise you to keep a civil tongue in yer 'ead, Major. 
Don't forget that I 'ave you in the 'ollow of my 'and. 

Traherne 
True, Watkins; and the hollow of your hand is a very 
disagreeable place to be in. That's why we're willing to 
pay well to get out of it. Come, now, what shall we 
say? 

Watkins 
Well, what about a little first instalment? You ain't 
quite on your uppers, are you, now? You could come 
down with something, be it ever so humble? 

Traherne 
[Examining his pocket-book.] I have 300 rupees and 
five ten-pound notes. [Places the money on the table.] 

Watkins 
And you. Major? 

Crespin 
Two hundred and fifty rupees. [Crosses and lays the 
notes on the table.] Oh, and some loose change. 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDES S 103 

Watkins 
[Nobly.] Oh, never mind the chicken-feed! And the 
lady? 

LUCILLA 
I gave my last rupee to your wife, Watkins. 

Watkins 
Well, that's about £120 to go on with. 

Traherne 
[Placing his hand on the heap of notes.] There. 
That's your first instalment. Now what about the bal- 
ance? Shall we say £1000 apiece? 

Watkins 
A thousand apiece! Three thousand pounds! You're 
joking. Dr. Traherne! Wot would £3000 be to me in 
England? W'y, I'd 'ave to take to valetting again. No, 
no, sir! If I'm to do this job, I must 'ave enough to 
make a gentleman of me. 

[Crespin, Traherne and Lucilla burst out 
laughing.] 

Watkins 
Well, you are the queerest lot as ever I come across. 
Your lives is 'anging by a 'air, and yet you can larf ! 

Lucilla 
[Hysterically.] It's your own fault, Watkins. Why 
will you be so funny? [Her laughter turns to tears 
and she buries her face in the end of the couch, shaken 
with 5065.] 

Traherne 
I'm afraid what you ask is beyond our means, Watkins. 
But I double my bid — two thousand apiece. 



104 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

Watkins 
You'll 'ave to double it again, sir, and a little more. 
You write me out an I. 0. U. for fifteen thousand 
pounds, and I'll see wot can be done. 

Crespin 
Well, you are the most consummate — 

Watkins 
If your lives ain't worth five thousand apiece to you, 
there's nothing doing. For my place here is worth 
fifteen thousand to me. And there's all the risk, too — 
I'm not charging you nothing for that. 

Traherne 
We appreciate your generosity, Watkins. Fifteen 
thousand be it! 

Watkins 
Now you're talking. 

[Traherne rapidly writes and signs the I. 0. U. 
and hands it to Watkins.] 

Watkins 
That's right, sir; but the Major must sign it, too. 

Crespin 
[Crosses to the table, on which Watkins places the 
paper, writes, throws down the pen.] There you are, 
damn you! 

Traherne 
Now get to work quick, and call up Amil-Serai. 

Watkins 
Right you are, sir. [Picks up the envelope and begins, 
in a leisurely way, unlocking the centre door.] 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDESS 105 

Crespin 
Isn't there some special call you must send out to get 
Amil-Serai? 

Watkins 
Oh, yes, sir, I know it. 

[Watkins takes his seat at the instrument, with his 
back to the snuggery, and begins to work lY.] 

Crespin 
[WhispeTs,'\ That's not a service call. 
[A pause. 1 

Watkins 
Right! Got them, sir. Now the message. 

Crespin 
[As Watkins works the key, Crespin spells out-.l 
" The — white — goats — are — ready — for — " [To 
Traherne.] No, but the black sheep is! Come on! 

[Crespin tiptoes up toward Watkins followed by 
Traherne. As he passes the upper end of the 
sofa Crespin picks up Lucilla's scarf and hands it 
to Traherne, meantime producing, his own handker- 
chief. LuciLLA rises, her hand pressed to her 
mouth. The men steal up close behind Watkins. 
Suddenly Traherne jams the gag in Watkins's 
mouth, and ties the ends of the scarf. Watkins 
attempts a cry, but it trails off into a gurgle. 
Crespin meantime grips Watkins's arms behind, 
and ties the wrists with his handkerchief. Traherne 
makes fast the gag, and the two lift him, struggling, 
and carry him towards the window. Watkins's 
head falls back, and his terror-stricken eyes can be 
seen over the swathing gag. They rest him for a 
moment on the balustrade.] 



106 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

Traherne 
Must we — ? 

Crespin 
Nothing else for it — one, two, three! [They heave 
him over. LuciLLA, who has been watching^ petrified, 
gives a gasping cry.] 

Crespin 
At least we haven't taken it lying down! [He pours 
out some whiskey and is about to drink when he pauses, 
puts down the glass, and then cries in great excitement:] 
Hold on! Don't speak! [A Pause.] I have it! [An- 
other pause.] Yes, by God, I have it! I've remembered 
the call! Can you lock that door? 

LUCILLA 

[At second door, left.] No key this side! 

Traherne 
[Whispering, and running to the door.] Don't open it. 
There are soldiers in the passage. I'll hold it. [He sta- 
tions himself before the door. Crespin rushes to the 
instrument and rapidly examines it.] 

Crespin 
The scoundrel had reduced the current. [Makes an 
adjustment with feverish haste.] Now the wave length! 
[More adjustment. He begins to transmit. A pause.] 

Traherne 
Do you get any answer? 

Crespin 
No, no ; I don't expect any — I'm sure they haven't the 
power. But it's an even chance that I get them all the 



Act III] THE GREEN GODDESS 107 

same. [He goes on transmitting hurriedly while Tra- 
HERNE and LuciLLA stand breathless, Traherne with his 
shoulder to the door.^ 

Traherne 
Some one's coming up the passage! Go on! Go on! 
I'll hold the door. 

[Another slight pause, while Crespin transmits 
feverishly. Suddenly Traherne braces himself 
against the door, gripping the handle. After a mo- 
ment, there is a word of command outside, the 
sound of shoulders heaved against the door, and it 
is gradually pushed open by three guards. Tra- 
herne is shoved back by its motion.] 

[The Raja enters, rushes forward and grasps 
the situation.] 

Raja 

Ah ! When the cat's away — 

[He whips out a revolver and fires.] 

Crespin 
Got me, by God! 

[He falls forward over the instrument, but imme- 
diately recovers himself, and rapidly unmakes the 
adjustments. Lucilla and Traherne catch him as 
he staggers back from the instrument, and lay him 
on the couch.] 

Traherne 
[Kneeling and supporting him.] Brandy! 

[Lucilla gets the glass. They put it to his lips.] 
[The Raja meanwhile goes to the wireless table, 
sees the draft message and reads it.] 



108 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act III 

Raja 

[Holding out the paper.'] How much of this did you 
get through? 

Crespin 
[Raising himself a little.] Damn you — none! 
[Falls back dead.] 

LUCILLA 
[Crying out.] Antony! 

Raja 
All over, eh? 

[Traherne, still kneeling, makes an affirmative 
sign.] 

[At this moment a noise is heard outside, and 
three soldiers burst open the door and rush in. 
One of them speaks to the Raja, pointing to the 
window, the other two rush up to Traherne, seize 
him and drag him over to the left. Lucilla re- 
mains kneeling by Crespin's body. The Raja goes 
calmly over to the window and looks out.] 

Raja 

[Returning to centre.] Tut tut — most inconvenient. 
And foolish on your part — for now, if my brothers 
should be reprieved, we cannot hear of it. [Looks at 
the message reflectively.] Otherwise, the situation re- 
mains unchanged. We adhere to our programme for to- 
morrow. The Major has only a few hours' start of you. 

CURTAIN 



ACT FOURTH 

A gloomy hall, its roof supported by four wooden col- 
umns, tivo in a row, rudely carved with distorted 
animal and human figures. The walls are also of 
rudely-carved wood, and are pierced all round, at 
the height of about twelve feet, by a sort of clere- 
story — a series of oblong slits or unglazed win- 
dows through which the sky can be seen. The 
general tone of the wood is dark brown, but the 
interstices between the carvings have here and there 
been filled in with dull red. There is a high cur- 
tained doorway, left, leading to a sort of robing- 
room. Opposite to it, right, a two-leaved wooden 
door, closed with a heavy wooden bolt. An ob- 
long hole in the door, ivith a sliding shutter, enables 
the guard within to inspect whoever approaches 
from without. At the back, centre, is a wide open- 
ing, curtained at the beginning of the Act. When the 
curtains are withdrawn, they reveal a sort of bal- 
cony or tribune, raised by two steps above the level 
of the hall, over the balustrade of which can be seen 
the head and shoulders of a colossal image of the 
Goddess, apparently at a distance of some fifty 
yards. Between the two foremost columns, on a 
dais of two steps, a wide throne, which has for its 
backing a figure of the Goddess carved in high re- 
lief, amid a good deal of barbaric tracery. The fig- 
ure is green, but there are touches of gold in her 
crown, her ornaments, and in the tracery, A low 

109 



110 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act IV 

brazier rests on the ground in front of the throne. 

The hall is a sort of anteroom to the public place of 
sacrifice without. 

Late afternoon light comes in through the clerestory on 
the left. 

When the curtain rises, a group of Priests is gathered 
round the doorway, left, while the Chief Priest 
stands at the centre, holding the curtains a little way 
apart and looking out. A Priest is on guard at the 
door, right. 

For a moment after the rise of the curtain, there is a 
regular and subdued murmur from the crowd with- 
out. Then it swells into a chorus of execrations. 
The Chief Priest gives an order to the other Priests, 
left, one of whom goes off through the doorway. 
The guard at the door, right, slips back the shutter 
and looks out, then unbolts the door, and admits 
Traherne, strapped to a mountain chair, and 
guarded by two soldiers, who withdraw. At the 
same time, the Raja, in splendid Eastern attire, 
enters, left. 

Raja 

Well, Doctor, it doesn't appear that any " god from 
the machine " is going to interfere with our programme. 

Traherne 
You are bringing a terrible vengeance upon yourself. 

Raja 

Think, my dear Doctor. If, as the Major said, he did 
not get your S. 0. S. through, I have nothing to fear. 
If he lied, and did get it through, nothing can ulti- 
mately save me, and I may as well be hung for a sheep 
as for a lamb. 



Act IV] THE GREEN GODDESS 111 

Traherne 
[Writhing in his bonds.] You might have spared me 
this! 

Raja 
A ritual detail, Doctor; not quite without reason. 
Persons lacking in self-control might throw themselves 
to the ground or otherwise disarrange the ceremony. 
[He speaks a word, and the bearers promptly release Tra- 
HERNE, and carry the chair out, right.] 

Traherne 
What have you done with Mrs. Crespin? 

Raja 
Don't be alarmed. She'll be here in due time. 

Traherne 
Listen to me, Raja. Do what you will with me, but 
let Mrs. Crespin go. Send her to India or to Russia, and 
I am sure, for her children's sake, she will swear to keep 
absolute silence as to her husband's fate and mine. 

Raja 
You don't believe, then, that I couldn't save you if I 
would? 

Traherne 
Believe it? No! 

Raja 
You are quite right, my dear Doctor. I £im not a 
High Priest for nothing. I might work the oracle. I 
might get a command from the Goddess to hurt no hair 
upon your heads. 

Traherne 
Then what devilish pleasure do you find in putting us 
to death? 



112 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act IV^ 

Raja 
Pleasure? The pleasure of a double vengeance. 
Vengeance for today — my brothers — and vengeance 
for centuries of subjection and insult. Do you know 
what brought you here? It was not blind chance, any 
more than it was the Goddess. It was my will, my crav- 
ing for revenge, that drew you here by a subtle, irresist- 
ible magnetism. My will is my religion — my god. 
And by that god I have sworn that you shall not escape 
me. 

[Yells from the crowd outside.] 
Ah, they are bringing Mrs. Crespin. 

[The Priest unbolts the door, right, and Lucilla 
is carried in,] 

Raja 

I apologize. Madam, for the manners of my people. 
Their fanaticism is beyond my control. 

[He says a word to the bearers, who release Lu- 
cilla. Traherne gives her his hand, and she steps 
from the chair, which the bearers remove, right.] 

Traherne 
How long have we left? 

Raja 
Till the sun's rim touches the crest of the mountain. 
A blast of our great mountain horn will announce the 
appointed hour, and you will be led out to the sacred 
enclosure. You saw the colossal image of the Goddess 
out yonder? 

[He points to the back. They look at each other 
in silence.] 

Traherne 
Will you grant us one last request? 



Act IV] THE GREEN GODDESS 113 

Raja 
By all means, if it is in my power. In spite of your 
inconsiderate action of yesterday — 

Traherne 
Inconsiderate — ? 

Raja 

Watkins, you know — poor Watkins — a great loss to 
me! But a la guerre comme a la guerre! I bear no 
malice for a fair act of war. I am anxious to show you 
every consideration. 

Traherne 
Then you will leave us alone for the time that remains 
to us. 

Raja 
Why, by all means. And oh, by the way, you need 
have no fear of the — ceremony ■ — being protracted. 
It will be brief and — I trust — painless. The High 
Church Party are not incapable of cruelty ; but I have res- 
olutely set my face against it. [Lucilla has meanwhile 
stood stonily gazing straight in front of her. The Raja 
reflects for a moment, and then goes up to her.] Before 
I go. Madam, may I remind you of my offer of yester- 
day? It is not yet too late. [Lucilla takes no notice.] 
Is it just to your children to refuse? [She looks at him 
stonily, saying nothing. After a pause.] Immovable? 
So be it! [He turns to go. At this moment a great yell 
of triumphant hatred goes up from the populace.] 

Raja 
Your husband's body. Madam. They are laying it at 
the feet of the Goddess. 



114 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act IV 

LUCILLA 

You promised me — 

Raja 
That it should be burnt. I will keep my promise. 
But you see I had three brothers — a head for a head. 

[He goes into the inner chamber, encircled by his 
Priests. Only the Guard at the door, right, re- 
mains, half hidden by the door jamb.] 

[LuciLLA and Traherne are left alone. LuciLLA 
sinks down upon the broad base of the foremost pil- 
lar, left.] 

LuciLLA 
So this is the end ! 

Traherne 
What offer did that devil make you? 

LuciLLA 
Oh, I didn't mean to tell you, but I may as well. He 
is an ingenious tormentor. He offered yesterday to let 
me live, and to kidnap the children and bring them here 
to me — you know on what terms. 

Traherne 
To bring the children here? 

LuciLLA 
He said in a month I might have them in my arms. 
Think of it! Ronny and Iris in my arms! [A pause. 
Traherne stands with his back to her.] 

Traherne 
[In a low and unsteady voice.] Are you sure you did 
right to refuse? 



Act IV] THE GREEN GODDESS 115 

LUCILLA 

Do you mean — ? 

Traherne 
[Louder and almost harshly.] Are you sure it is not 
wrong to refuse? 

LUCILLA 
Oh, how can you — ? Right? Wrong? What are 
right and wrong to me now? If I could see my children 
again, would any scruple of " right " or " wrong " make 
me shrink from anything that was possible? But this is 
so i^terly, utterly impossible. 

Traherne 
Forgive me. You know it would add an unspeakable 
horror to death if I had to leave you here. But I felt I 
must ask you whether you had fully considered — 

LuciLLA 
I have thought of nothing else through all these tor- 
turing hours. 

Traherne 
How brave you are! 

LUCILLA 

Not brave, not brave. If I could live, I would 
— there, I confess it! But I should die of shame and 
misery, and leave my children — to that man. Or, if I 
did live, what sort of a mother should I be to them? 
They would be much better without me! Oh my pre- 
cious, precious darlings! 

[She clasps her arms across her breast, and rocks 
herself in agony. A short silence.] 

Traherne 
[Lays his hand on her shoulder.] Lucilla! 



116 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act IV 

LUCILLA 

[Looking up.^ Oh, Basil, say you think it won't be al- 
together bad for them! They will never know anything 
of their father now, but what was good. And their 
mother will simply have vanished into the skies. They 
will think she has flown away to heaven — and who 
knows but it may be true? There may be something 
beyond this hell. 

Traherne 
We shall know soon, Lucilla. 

LUCILIA 

But to go away and leave them without a word — ! 
Poor little things, poor little things. 

Traherne 
They will remember you as something very dear and 
beautiful. The very mystery will be like a halo about 
you. 

Lucilla 
Shall I see them again, Basil? Tell me that. 
[A pause.] 

Traherne 
Who knows? Even to comfort you, I won't say I am 
certain. But I do sincerely think you may. 

Lucilla 
[Smiling woefully.] You think there is a sporting 
chance? 

Traherne 
More than that. This life is such a miracle — could 
any other be more incredible? 



Act IV] THE GREEN GODDESS 117 

LUCILLA 

But even if I should meet them in another world, they 
would not be m y Ronny and Iris, but a strange man 
and a strange woman, built up of experiences in which I 
had had no share. Oh, it was cunning, cunning, what 
that devil said to me ! He said " God Himself cannot 
give you back their childhood." 

Traherne 

How do you know that God is going to take their child- 
hood from you? You may be with them this very night 
— with them, unseen, but perhaps not unfelt, all the 
days of their life. 

LuciLLA 

You are saying that to make what poor Antony called 
a " haze " for me — to soften the horror of darkness that 
is waiting for us? Don't give me "dope," Basil — I 
can face things without it. 

Traherne 
I mean every word of it. [A pause.] Why do you 
smile? 

LUCILLA 

At aythought that came to me — the thought of poor 
Anton^ as a filmy, purified spirit. It seems so unthink- 
able./ 

Traherne 

Why unthinkable? Why may he not still exist, though 
he has left behind him the nerves, the cravings, that tor- 
mented him — and you. You have often told me that 
there was something fine in the depths of his nature; and 
you know how he showed it yesterday. 

LUCILLA 

Oh, if I could only tell the children how he died! 



118 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act IV 

Traherne 
But his true self was chained to a machine that was 
hopelessly out of gear. The chain is broken: the ma- 
chine lies out there — scrapped. Do you think that he 
was just that machine, and nothing else? 

LuciLLA 
I don't know. I only feel that Antony spiritualized 
would not be Antony. And you, Basil — if Antony 
leaves his — failings, you must leave behind your work. 
Do you want another life in which there is no work 
to be done — no disease to be rooted out? [With a 
mournful smile.] Don't tell me you don't long to take 
your microscope with you wherever you may be going. 

Traherne 
Perhaps there are microscopes awaiting me there. 

LUCILLA 
Spirit microscopes for spirit microbes? You don't be- 
lieve that, Basil. 

Traherne 
I neither believe nor disbelieve. In all we can say of 
another life we are like children blind from birth, trying 
to picture the form and colours of the rainbow. 

LUCILLA 

But if the forms and colours we know are of no use to 
us, what comfort are we to find in formless, colourless 
possibilities? If we are freed from all human selfish- 
ness, shall I love my children more than any other 
woman's? Can I love a child I cannot kiss, that cannot 
look into my eyes and kiss me back again? 

Traherne 
[Starting up.] Oh, Lucilla, don't! 



Act IV] THE GREEN GODDESS 119 

LUCILLA 

What do you mean? 

Traherne 
Don't remind me of all we are losing! I meant to 
leave it all unspoken — the thought of h i m lying out 
there seemed to tie my tongue. But we have only one 
moment on this side of eternity. Lucilla, shall I go on? 
[After a perceptible pause, Lucilla bows her 
head.] 
Do you think it is with a light heart that I turn my 
back upon the life of earth and all it might have meant 
for you and me — for you and me, Lucilla! 

Lucilla 
Yes, Basil, for you and me. 

Traherne 
Rather than live without you, I am glad to die 
with you ; but oh, what a wretched gladness compared 
with that of living with you and loving you! I wonder 
if you guess what it has meant to me, ever since we met at 
Dehra Dun, to see you as another man's wife, bound to 
him by ties I couldn't ask you to break. It has been 
hell, hell! [Looking up with a mournful smile.] My 
love has not been quite selfish, Lucilla, since I can say I 
really do love your children, though I know they have 
stood between me and heaven. 

Lucilla 
Yes, Basil, I know. I have known from the beginning. 

Traherne 
Oh, Lucilla, have we not been fools, fools? We have 
sacrificed to an idol as senseless as that — [with a ges- 



120 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act IV 

ture towards the image'] all the glory and beauty of life! 
What do I care for a bloodless, shadowy life — life in 
the abstract, with all the senses extinct? Is there not 
something in the depths of our heart that cries out " We 
don't want it! Better eternal sleep! "? 

LuciLLA 
Oh, Basil — you are going back on your own wisdom. 

Traherne 
Wisdom! What has wisdom to say to love, thwarted 
and unfulfilled? You were right when you said that it 
is a mockery to speak of love without hands to clasp, 
without lips to kiss. We may be going to some pale par- 
ody of life; but in our cowardice we have killed love for 
ever and ever. 

LUCILLA 
No, Basil, don't call it cowardice. I, too, regret — 
perhaps as much as you — that things were — as they 
were. But not even your love could have made up to 
me for my children. 

[A trumpet-blast is heard — a prolonged deep, 
wailing sound.] 
There is the signal I Good-bye, dear love. 

[She holds out her hands to him. They kiss and 
stand embraced, until, at a sound of tom-toms and a 
low muttered chant from behind the curtains, left, 
they part, and stand hand in hand, facing the door- 
way."] 

[Suddenly, at a great shattering note from a gong, 
the curtains of the doorway part, and a procession 
of chanting Priests enters, all wearing fantastic robes 
and headdresses, and all, except the Chief Priest, 
masked. The Raja follows them, also wearing a 



Act IV] THE GREEN GODDESS 121 

priestly headdress, and gorgeously robed. Behind 
him come three dark-robed and masked figures, car- 
rying heavy swords. Musicians bring up the rear. 
The Priests group themselves round the throne.] 

Raja 

[To Traherne and Lucilla, who are standing in front 

of the throne.] May I trouble you to move a little 

aside? I am, for the moment, not a king, but a priest, 

and must observe a certain dignity. Ridiculous, isn't it? 

[They move over to the right of the throne. He 

advances in stately fashion and seats himself on it.] 

Raja 
[To Lucilla.] Must I do violence to my feelings, 
Madam, by including you in the approaching ceremony? 
There is still time. 

[Lucilla is silent.] 
We autocrats are badly brought up. We are not ac- 
customed to having our desires, or even our whims, 
thwarted. 

Traherne 
[Interrupting.] Will you never cease tormenting this 
lady? 

Raja 
[Totally disregarding him.] Remember my power. 
If I may not take you back to my palace as my Queen, I 
can send you back as my slave. 
[A pause.] 
Have you nothing to say? 

Lucilla 
Nothing. 

Raja 
I repeat my offer as to your children. 



122 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act IV 

LUCILLA 

I would die a hundred times rather than see them in 
your hands. 

Raja 
Remember, too, that, if I so will it, you cannot save 
them by dying. I can have them kidnapped — or — I 
can have them killed. 

[LuciLLA shrieks. Traherne, with a cry of 
" Devil " makes a leap at the Raja's throat, pinning 
him against the hack of the throne. The Priests in- 
stantly pull Traherne off, pinion him, and drag him 
over to the left. They talk furiously to each other, 
and the Chief Priest prostrates himself before the 
Raja, apparently in urgent supplication. The Raja, 
who is now to the left of the throne, Lucilla remain- 
ing on the right, quits them with some difficulty, and 
then turns to Traherne.] 

Raja 
Chivalrous but ill-advised. Dr. Traherne. I regret it, 
and so will you. My colleagues here insist that, as you 
have laid impious hands on the chief of their sacred caste, 
your death alone will not appease the fury of the God- 
dess. They insist on subjecting you to a process of ex- 
piation — a ritual of great antiquity — but — 

Traherne 
You mean torture? 

Raja 
Well — yes. 

[Lucilla rushes forward with a cry.] 
Not you, Madam — not you — 

Lucilla 
I must speak to you — speak to you alone! Send Dr. 
Traherne away. 



Act IV] THE GREEN GODDESS 123 

Traherne 
Lucilla! What are you thinking of! Lucilla — ! 
[The Raja motions to the Priests, who do some- 
thing to Traherne which causes him to crumple up, 
and his voice dies away.] 

Lucilla 
I beg you — I beg you! One minute — no more! 
[The Raja looks at her for a moment, then shrugs 
his shoulders and gives an order. Traherne is 
dragged through the doorway, left.] 

[Lucilla, in her desperation, has rushed up the 
steps of the throne. She now sinks, exhausted, upon 
the end of the throne itself.] 

Lucilla 
Let him go, send him back to India unharmed, and — it 
shall be as you wish. 

Raja 

Soho! You will do for your lover — to save him a 
little additional pain — what you would not do to have 
your children restored to you! Suppose I agree — 
would he accept this sacrifice? 

Lucilla 
No, no, he wouldn't — but he must have no choice. 
That is part of the bargain. Send him — bound hand 
and foot, if need be — down to Kashmir, and put him 
over the frontier — 

Raja 

You don't care what he thinks of you? 

Lucilla 
He will know what to think. 



124 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act IV 

Raja 

And I too, Madam, know what to think. [Kneeling 
with one knee on the throne, he seizes her by the shoul- 
ders and turns her face towards him.] Come, look me in 
the eyes and tell me that you honestly intend to fulfil 
your bargain! [Her head droops.] I knew it! You 
are playing with me! But the confiding barbarian is 
not so simple as you imagine. No woman has ever tried 
to fool me that has not repented it. You think, when 
you have to pay up, you will fob me off with your dead 
body. Let me tell you, I have no use for you dead — I 
want you with all the blood in your veins, with all the 
pride in that damned sly brain of yours. I Vv^ant to make 
my plaything of your beauty, my mockery of your pride. 
I want to strip off the delicate English lady, and come 
down to the elemental woman, the handmaid and the in- 
strument of man. 

[Changing his tone.] 

Come now, I'll make you a plain offer. I w i 1 1 put 
Dr. Traherne over the frontier, and, as they set him free, 
my people shall hand him a letter written by you at my 
dictation. You will tell him that you have determined 
to accept my protection and make this your home. Con- 
sequently you wish to have your children conveyed to 
you here — 

LUCILLA 

Never — never — never ! I will make no bargain that 
involves my children. 

Raja 

You see! You will give me no hostages for the fulfil- 
ment of your bond. But a pledge of your good faith I 
must have. For without a pledge. Madam, I don't be- 
lieve in it one little bit. 



Act IV] THE GREEN GODDESS 125 

LUCILLA 

What pledge? 

Raja 
Only one is left — Dr. Traherne himself. I may — 
though it will strain my power to the uttermost — save 
his life, while keeping him in prison. Then, when you 
have fulfilled your bond — fulfilled it to the uttermost, 
mark you ! — when you have borne me a child — I will 
let him go free. But the moment you attempt to evade 
your pledge, by death or by escape, I will hand him over 
to the priests to work their will with; and I will put no 
restraint upon their savage instincts. 
[Pause.] 
Choose, my dear lady, choose! 

[The subdued murmur of the crowd below, which 
has been faintly audible during the foregoing scene, 
ceases, and in the silence is heard a faint, but rapidly 
increasing, whirr and throb.] 

[LuciLLA, who has been crouching on the steps of 
the throne, looks up slowly, hope dawning in her 
face. For a few seconds she says nothing, waiting 
to assure herself that she can believe her ears. Then 
she says in a low voice, with a sort of sob of relief:] 

LuciLLA 

Aeroplanes! [She springs up with a shriek] The 
aeroplanes! Basil! Basil! The aeroplanes! [She 
rushes out through the doorway, left, thrusting aside the 
incoming Priests, who are too amazed to oppose her.] 

[The Raja does not at first alter his attitude but 
looks up and listens intently. The curtains shut- 
ting off the balcony at the back are violently torn 
apart by the guard outside, who shout to the Raja 



126 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act IV 

and point upward. Sounds of consternation and 
terror proceed from the unseen crowd,] 

[The Raja goes to the back and looks out. At 
the same moment Lucilla and Traherne rush in 
from the doorway, left.] 

Lucilla 
See! See! They are circling lower and lower! Is it 
true, Basil? Are we saved? 

Traherne 
Yes, Lucilla, we are saved. 

Lucilla 
Oh, thank God! thank God! I shall see my babies 
again ! 

[She sways, almost fainting. Traherne supports 
her.] 

Raja 
So the Major lied like a gentleman! Good old Major! 
I didn't think he had it in him. 

[The Guards call his attention; he looks out from 
the balcony, and gives an order, then turns down 
again.] 
One of the machines has landed. An officer is coming 
this way — he looks a mere boy. 

Traherne 
The conquerors of the air have all been mere boys. 

Raja 
I have given orders that he shall be brought here un- 
harmed. Perhaps I had better receive him with some 
ceremony. 

[He goes back to the throne and seats himself, 



Act IV] THE GREEN GODDESS 127 

cross-legged. At his command the Priests range 
themselves about him.] 

Raja 
You said just now, Dr. Traherne, that you were saved. 
Are you so certain of that? 

Traherne 
Certain? 

Raja 
How many men does each of these humming-birds 
carry ? 

Traherne 
Two or three, but — 

Raja 

I counted six planes — say at the outside twenty men. 
Even my toy army can cope with that number. 

[There is a growing clamour outside. The Raja 
gives an order to the Priest at the door, right. He 
throws it wide open.] 

[Flight-Lieutenant Cardew saunters in, es- 
corted by three soldiers.] 

Raja 

Who are you, sir? 

Cardew 
One moment! [Crosses to Lucilla, who holds out 
both her hands. He takes them cordially but coolly.] 
Mrs. Crespin! I'm very glad we're in time. [Turns to 
Traherne.] Dr. Traherne, I presume? [Shakes hands 
with him] And Major Crespin? 



128 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act IV 

Traherne 
Shot while transmitting our message. 

Cardew 
I'm so sorry, Mrs. Crespin. [To Traherne.] By 
whom? [Traherne indicates the Raja, who has mean- 
while watched the scene impassively.^ 

Raja 

I am sorry to interrupt these effusions, but — 

Cardew 
Who are you, sir? 

Raja 

I am the Raja of Rukh. And you? 

Cardew 
Flight-Lieutenant Cardew. I have the honour to repre- 
sent his Majesty, the King-Emperor. 

Raja 

The King-Emperor? Who is that, pray? We live so 
out of the world here, I don't seem to have heard of 
him. 

Cardew 

You will in a minute, Raja, if you don't instantly hand 
over his subjects. 

Raja 

His subjects? Ah, I see you mean the King of Eng- 
land. What terms does his Majesty propose? 

Cardew 
We make no terms with cut-throats. [Looks at his 
wrist watch.'] If I do not signal your submission within 
three minutes of our landing — 



Act IV] THE GREEN GODDESS 129 

[A bomb is heard to fall at some distance. 
Great consternation among the Priests, etc.'] 

Raja 

[Unperturbed.] Ah! bombs! 

Cardew 
Precisely. 

Raja 

I fancied your Government affected some scruple as to 
the slaughter of innocent civilians. 

Cardew 
There has been no slaughter — as yet. That bomb 
fell in the ravine, where it could do no harm. So will 
the next one — 

[Bomb — nearer. Increasing hubbub without.] 
But the third — well if you're wise you'll throw up the 
sponge, and there won't b e a third. 

Raja 

Throw up the sponge. Lieutenant — ? I didn't quite 
catch your name? 

Cardew 
Cardew. 

Raja 

Ah, yes. Lieutenant Cardew. Why on earth should I 
throw up the sponge? Your comrades up yonder can no 
doubt massacre quite a number of my subjects — a brave 
exploit! — but when they've spent their thunderbolts, 
they'll just have to fly away again — if they can. A 
bomb may drop on this temple, you say? In that case, 
you and your friends will escort me — in fragments — 



130 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act IV 

to my last abode. Does that prospect allure you? I call 
your bluff, Lieutenant Cardew. 

[A third bomb — very loud.] 
[The Priests rush up to the Raja, and fall before 
him in panic-stricken supplication, with voluble re- 
monstrances, pointing to the Idol in the background. 
The Raja hesitates for a moment, then proceeds:] 

Raja 

My priests, however, have a superstitious dread of 
these eggs of the Great Roc. They fear injury to the 
Sacred Image. For myself, I am always averse from 
bloodshed. You may, if you please, signal to your 
squadron commander my acceptance of your terms. 

Cardew 
I thought you would come to reason. [Shaking out 
his flag in preparation for signalling, he hurries across 
to where the white beam of a searchlight is visible out- 
side the doorway, right. He disappears for a moment.] 

Raja 

This comes of falling behind the times. If I had had 
anti-aircraft guns — 

Traherne 
Thank your stars you hadn't! 

Cardew 
[Returning.] All clear for the moment. Raja. You 
have no further immediate consequences to fear. 

Raja 

What am I to conclude from your emphasis on im- 
mediate? 



Act IV] THE GREEN GODDESS 131 

Cardew 
[After whispering to Traherne.] I need scarcely re- 
mind you, sir, that you can only hand over the body of 
one of your prisoners. 

Raja 
Major Crespin murdered a faithful servant of mine. 
His death at my hands was a fair act of war. 

Cardew 
His Majesty's Government will scarcely view it in that 
light. 

Raja 
His Majesty's Government has today, I believe, taken 
the lives of three kinsmen of mine. Your side has the 
best of the transaction by four lives to one. 

Cardew 
[Shrugging his shoulders.] Will you assign us an es- 
cort through the crowd? 

Raja 

Certainly. [Gives an order to the officer of regulars, 
who hurries out, right.] The escort will be here in a 
moment. [To Lucilla and Traherne.] It only re- 
mains for me to speed the parting guest. I hope we may 
one day renew our acquaintance — oh, not here! I 
plainly foresee that I shall have to join the other Kings 
in Exile. Perhaps we may meet at Homburg or Monte 
Carlo, and talk over old times. Ah, here is the escort. 

[The escort has formed at the door, right. Tra- 
herne, Lucilla and Cardew cross to it, the Raja 
following them up.] 

Raja 
Good-bye, dear lady. I lament the Major's end. Per- 



132 THE GREEN GODDESS [Act IV 

haps I was hasty; but, you know, " 'Tis better to have 
loved and lost," etc. And oh — Mrs. Crespin! [^5 she 
is going out, Lucilla looks back at him with horror. '\ 
My love to the children ! 

[The Priests and others are all clustered on the 
balcony, looking at the aeroplanes. The Raja 
turns back from the door, lights a cigarette at the 
brazier, takes a puff, and says:'] 
Well, well — she'd probably have been a damned nui- 
sance. 



CURTAIN 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: March 2009 

Preservationlechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN 00" I FCTinMR PRESERVATION 

111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-2111 



I 



